Waking up in Vegas
by TheGirlOfThorns
Summary: Magnus and Alec plan a trip to Vegas, and Izzy, Simon, Clary, and Jace decide to tag along. What misadventures will befall our heroes on their road trip? Who will get the most wasted? Who will win a massive DDR competition? How will a terrible guy's night and a fun girl's night go down when they run into another couple that we as fans all know and love from TID? Read to find out!
1. Vegas, baby!

"We're going to Vegas," Alec said, his ocean blue eyes boring into his sister's brown ones. "Don't bother us." His warning tone was firm. Clearly, Isabelle thought, he was not going to tolerate any crap.

Which is why she had to mess with him.

"You know what, Alec? Strange coincidence, Simon and I have already planned a trip to Vegas this weekend! Haven't we, Si?" Simon looked up from the Codex that he was studying meticulously and stared at Isabelle through his clouded glasses.

"We did?" He looked horribly confused.

Alec grew increasingly annoyed. He was not going to have his little sister ruin his romantic vacation with Magnus. Ever since the Dark War and since they had gotten back together, Magnus and Alec had agreed to take small steps to progress their relationship to what it previously was. They were better than they ever had been, Alec thought, the idea making him a little less upset with Isabelle and Simon in that moment. Magnus was slowly opening up to Alec, talking to him about his past. Alec was gradually beginning to accept that no matter how old he got, no matter what happened, Magnus was always going to be by his side. Even if Magnus would not physically grow old with him, every little experience they shared together would be just as real as if he had. Alec was beaming because of these thoughts, but eventually put back on his scowl when Isabelle's voice brought him back to reality.

"Yes, Simon. Sheesh, I thought your memory loss was only long-term. No one ever said anything about you forgetting things that just happened!'

"Do you mean like… in the Sims? Or some other video game?" Simon had a look of genuine confusion in his eyes and began stammering different video games that might have an option to go to Vegas, but Alec had to cut him off.

"No. You aren't going to Vegas. Magnus and I are taking a trip together. He told me that it's one of his favorite cities in the country, besides Brooklyn, and he wanted to show me how beautiful it is."

Isabelle snorted. "Figures Magnus likes it," she mumbled. "Sin city."

Alec was not amused. "So no, Simon. Sorry. Your girlfriend is lying to you. You aren't joining us…" he started, but found himself cut off by a pair of caramel coloured arms encircling his waist and a puff of hot breath on his ear.

"Darling," Magnus told Alec, "there's no reason that we can't go on a double date with your sister and Simon. Vegas is honestly more fun with more people anyways."

Alec blushed a deep crimson and didn't say anything. Even having been with Magnus for as long as he had, knowing him as well as he did- which was very, _very _well- having Magnus hold him in front of other people was something that he never could seem to get used to. "Magnus…" he said, but he didn't really have the words to protest Izzy and Simon's coming along.

Magnus leaned closer into Alec, practically putting his mouth on his ear. "Of course," he purred quietly, "we'll still have our own room…" Alec blushed a deeper colour. Simon and Isabelle, who hadn't heard, looked confused. Confused, but also happy.

They were going to Vegas, baby.

They left the next morning, but definitely not without incident. As the four of them met up outside Magnus's loft to fill the car that he claimed he had pulled out of thin air but Alec knew had most likely been illegally summoned from the nearest dealership with their belongings, two incredibly familiar figures walked up to them. Even at a distance, a blonde, muscular boy in a shirt that said "KEEP CALM AND DON'T TELL THE CLAVE" and the short red-haired girl that lung to his shoulder in an obvious gesture of love were unmistakable.

"What… what are Jace and Clary doing here?" Alec asked. He was already being flexible allowing Simon and Izzy to join the trip. Jace and Clary, as much as he loved them, were just more distractions for Magnus to take his attention off him. He really, really wanted to make sure that he had some actual time with his boyfriend.

"Hey, guys!" Jace greeted them. Clary smiled and waved. Simon looked happy to see her there. Magnus looked happy to have another couple, which Alec supposed was because of his "the more, the merrier" principle. Alec thought that this principle could go do something anatomically unlikely with itself.

"Heyo! Put your luggage in the trunk. You two can canoodle in the back seat of the car, and Simon will sit with you guys. Isabelle is going to sit in the front because she will be navigating. And as for my Alexander…" Magnus smiled, Taking Alec's hand in his. "I need him with my magnificent self."

"Why don't we just take a portal?" Clary asked. Realizing it was a good question, everyone else looked puzzled at one another. There were murmurs of agreement.

"Because the road trip is a part of the EXPERIENCE, Biscuit!" Magnus said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Everyone shut up after that. When Magnus decided that it was time to have an "experience", it was best just to go along with it and let him do what he wanted.

Rolling his eyes at Magnus, Jace took Clary's hand and hopped into the back next to his girlfriend, who was already talking with her best friend about one of his nerd games and laughing. Isabelle took out the map as Alec slid in next to her in the wide six seater, and Magnus slipped in next to him and placed one hand on the wheel and the other hand on Alec's.

The car started, and they all knew that they were going on a trip they would remember for a really long time.

**What do you guys think? I've been thinking about writing this fic for a while, but I finally built up the willpower to sit down and write it. What does everybody think? I promise it is going to get better. I have some ideas as to where this is going, and I'll tell you that it involves a lover's spat, a huge DDR competition, a really drunk guy's night, and LOTS of Clace, Malec, Sizzy, and eventually Jessa. In any case, is there anything specific that you'd like me to do in this fic? Leave a review with requests, I just might take them.**

**Thanks for your support!**


	2. Of Awkward Car Rides

_Shut up and put your money where your mouth is_

_That's what you get for waking up in Vegas_

_Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now_

_That's what you get for waking up in Vegassssss_

Jace only had three thoughts:

1. Letting Magnus drive was a bad idea, because it meant that he got to choose the music and he refused to play anything that was "not fitting for the occasion", leaving Jace stuck listening to songs about drinking and colour and sex.

2. Magnus was such a sucky singer that Clary had to bury her face in Jace's shoulder for the past hour to stop herself from laughing or crying, he wasn't sure which.

3. Alec was the only one who did not looked disturbed by Magnus's behavior, but clearly he was used to it, so Jace sensed that Magnus was truly a terrible singer with no musical inclination whatsoever and it was definitely not all in his beautiful little blonde head.

Jace only found solice in the fact that he was the most attractive person in the vehicle. He let his mind wander there to block out the atrocious sounds that Magnus was making.

This went on for a while, and it was actually kind of fun. They were talking and laughing and making fun of Magnus's singing and Simon kept comparing it to bat screeching noises in D&D, which was at least for the moment making Simon tolerable in Jace's mind. Eventually, however, their gas tank went low.

"Can't you just, like, magic more gas in the tank?" Isabelle asked, not wanting to have to stop the trip that they were having a good time on to pull over and get some.

"You all shouldn't miss out on experiences because of my powers. And, seriously, what if I need the energy later?"

There was no point in arguing with Magnus. He was driving, he made the rules, and Alec would likely shoot death glares at anyone who bent Magnus's will. So Izzy just sighed and allowed them to pull over at the Shell station (because Magnus was boycotting BP) and watched him get out of the car.

Magnus was just beginning to fill the tank when an incredibly attractive red-haired man approached him from behind and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Magnus!" He said. Magnus cursed under his breath, but then put on his best smile and looked at the man with feigned fondness.

"Hello, Keith," he said. "Been a while."

Keith smiled. Magnus turned away again and started focused his attention on the pump. Alec could see Keith looking at his backside out the window. Isabelle felt him tense beside her. When the tank was filled, Magnus turned to Keith, gave him a very quick good-bye, and hopped back in the car. With Keith still watching, he put his arm around Alec and pulled him as close as possible, driving away with the other hand as Keith watched him go.

"…Who was that?" Alec asked. Magnus sighed.

They had a rule, ever since they had gotten back together, to be one hundred percent open and honest with one another. It was difficult sometimes, but they both agreed on it and complied with it.

"That's my ex, Keith."

"Oh." Alec was curt. He was clearly not pleased. "Was he… good?"

"I broke up with him. So, no. He was an asshole in the end."

"Did you love him?"

Magnus sighed loudly, his displeasure obvious. "Alexander, please, don't do this right now."

"Why not? Did you sleep with him?"

"ALEXANDER! There are people in the car besides us. Can we please talk about this later? You know that you're the only one I love now, and the person that I've loved more than I've ever loved anyone else."

Alec heard Jace make a gagging noise from the back seat, but ti went ignored because of how upset he was. "So that's a yes, then."

Magnus closed his eyes and mentally counted to ten.

"Alexander, I love you and only you. Can we please talk about this in our hotel room?"

"No. I don't even want to share a room with you anymore. I'll share with Jace."

"WHAT?" Jace and Clary exclaimed in unison.

Jace spoke up to Alec. "I wanted to share a room with Clary."

Alec looked exasperated, angry, and very upset. "Jace, please. You swore an oath."

Jace cursed under his breath.

Alec sighed. "Well, you did."

And that's when Jace knew, this trip was going to hell. Because he had sworn an oath. He made a sad face at Clary. Clary moved closer to him.

"Sorry baby," he told her. "Have fun with Magnus, I guess."

**Hahahaha, I'm evil! So, what's going to happen? We'll see. I hope to update this weekend, but will be out of town and don't know when I will be able to. Leave your thoughts on this chapter in the reviews, and I may be able to incorporate your ideas into the fic. Also I'm starting to think we need more Sizzy, yeah? SO. THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL HAVE SIZZY MOMENTS. xoxoxoxo**


	3. Room Roulette

**Hey y'all! Sorry for the slowish update, I've been out of town and this is literally the first chance I've had. In any case, this is supposed to be a funny chapter, and it's decently long. I hope you enjoy it ~**

The remainder of the car ride was… awkward, to say the very least. Alec continued to be jealous and angry for the rest of the drive, and got even angrier at Magnus when he refused to stop for the night and just said that they should "sleep in the car and drive in shifts" because the lack of predictability was "half the fun to a road trip." Simon took the next shift in the car and Isabelle cuddled next to him. Alec sat next to Isabelle and entirely across the car from Magnus because he did not want to sit anywhere near him. The music stopped playing and the party air was gone from the car. It was extremely uncomfortable, Clary thought, but she knew that she was not helping the situation by being angry at Jace for abandoning her to room with Magnus. It wasn't Jace's fault, she knew, but she still felt she had the right to be angry with him. Alec's relationship troubles shouldn't be giving her and Jace relationship problems.

When they finally got there, groggy, tired, and incredibly irritated, they rolled out of the car and Magnus went to check them in. "We have three rooms with king size beds. Can we change that?" he asked, knowing that Clary was not going to want to share a bed with him and, more than anything, not wanting to think of his Alexander sharing a bed with his former crush. The lady looked at him with a blank expression on her face.

"Let me check on that."

Magnus nodded, looking completely and entirely exhausted. The others knew how they felt. It had been a long day for all of them, but having spent the brunt of the day driving as well as the emotional toll of fighting with Alec had given Magnus an incredible amount of tiredness.

"We only have the rooms you reserved," the woman said, bringing him back to reality. Oh well, he thought, too tired to argue. Jace was Alec's brother, he tried to comfort himself, and he was straight. And Magnus was so sleepy that he didn't even care what really happened with himself and Clary. He just wanted to collapse into a bed somewhere.

Finally, they each went to their rooms for the night. Isabelle, tired but not too tired, yanked on Simon's hand. Simon smiled. He still, even after all this time, could not believe that the most beautiful girl in the world wanted to be with him. Isabelle was all Simon ever wanted and more, and every day he remembered something new about her- or old, depending on how he looked at it- and his love for her did nothing but grow, and he could feel that he was special to her too. They hadn't said the L-word yet- too early for that, Simon thought, considering the situation, and considering the fact that Isabelle didn't believe in true love- but Simon knew that he was special to her, too. He could feel it in the way she held his hand, as if she were lifting him up. He could feel it in the way she kissed him, with a kind of loving tenderness that came with a roughness that told him that she knew that he was not breakable. He could hear it in the way she laughed at his nerdy jokes; see it in the look in her eyes when she gazed at him; he could smell it in the perfume that she wore every day simply because Simon had told her that she liked it once.

As soon as they got to the room, before Simon knew it or could even say her beautiful name- _Isabelle, Isabelle, Isabelle- _she was kissing him, that tender yet strangely rough kiss that was hard to describe to someone who had never been kissed, never been cared for by Izzy. He reciprocated without hesitation, his tongue beginning to explore her mouth as soon as she granted him access after teasing him for what seemed like an insanely long time. She liked to tease him, he thought, but it was totally worth it when Izzy tasted like sweetness and strawberries and perfection, and, more than anything, love. His mind could only reel with joy and one word- _Isabelle, Isabelle, Isabelle- _until she pulled away from him and smiled, her hands still on his shoulders. He shot her a look of confusion, thinking that maybe he had done something wrong.

"Simon?" She phrased it as a question, it was not a statement. Simon was shocked. Isabelle was usually so sure, but right now she had a look of vulnerability on her face that made Simon afraid that he might break her if he held on too hard. He gulped.

"Yeah?"

She stuck her tongue through her lips and licked them, but not in a way as if she were intending to be sexy, but rather in a way that was unsure, uncertain.

"I have… something to tell you." Her big brown fawn eyes gazed down and looked nervously at the floor beneath their feet, Isabelle's heel grinding into the hardwood floor that seemed to be the only thing holding Simon onto Earth besides Izzy's hands still on his shoulders. He gulped again.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

He knew he was the first person that she had ever said that to, regardless of how many people she had dated, touched, kissed previously to them. He was the only one that she truly loved. And then, he knew. He could tell her the truth.

"I love you too, Isabelle." She kissed him again, pushing him down to the bed as she did so, and the only thing reeling through his mind was still _Isabelle, Isabelle, Isabelle._

_I love you._

Jace's life sucked. It really, really sucked. Alec was the single worst bed partner he ever could have asked for. Magnus always described Alec as a cuddler, but apparently that was only the case when Alec actually wanted to cuddle with you. At first, Jace was just going to take the floor, but then when Alec suggested that he take the floor, saying that he understood if Jace was uncomfortable sharing the bed with a gay man, Jace knew he was going to have to share the bed with Alec or he was going to think that the reason he didn't want to share was his adoptive brother's sexuality. In reality, the reason was this.

Alec stole all the blankets.

Alec kicked. Alec basically took up the whole bed. Jace was clinging, half his body on the edge of the be and the other hanging off it with his arm on the ground. It was truly a sight to see.

He loved his parabatai, though, and so he could bear it. He would take this if it would make Alec more comfortable with his sexuality and more secure in the fact that Jace was there for him no matter what.

Jace finally decided that he was able to make it work if he slept curled into a ball in the corner of the mattress facing towards Alec. However, when he heard a loud grunt and suddenly felt Alec's fist in his face, aching, he decided that he wasn't going to take this anymore. Swearing that he would explain to his parabatai in the morning, he rolled onto the floor, taking his own pillow with him and pulling a stolen blanket off Alec. Alec grunted loudly in protest, but did not wake up.

"Yeah, that's for punching me in the face, asshole," Jace mutered, curling up on the floor to sleep.

About ten minutes later, Alec was loudly snoring away, keeping Jace awake. It was time to leave the room. He was not going to take this anymore.

"I think you should make up with Alec," Clary informed Magnus from the floor of the fantasy suite that Magnus had bought for himself and his boyfriend. Clary was swimming in rose petals that adorned the floor of the room and was feeling woozy from the disgustingly red romantic wallpaper that was on the wall. The Jaccuzi in the corner would go unused tonight.

"I know what you think. Go to sleep, biscuit. He and I will talk in the morning." He let out an exhausted sigh. He was sleepy, while at the same time being very sad that he would be getting any sleep tonight.

"I know you know, but I want you to _hear _me." Clary's voice bordered on a whine.

"Please, biscuit, be quiet and go to sleep."

"Just promise me that you will make up with Alec." Clary, too, was sad that she would be getting sleep tonight.

"Yes biscuit. I hear you. I understand what you are saying. I'm not stupid. Goodnight."

"I never said you were stupid!"

"Clarissa. Be quiet and let me sleep."

"I know, I just… want to make sure that we have a good trip. And in order to have a good trip, we all have to be happy. And in order to be happy, we all have to get along. And in order to get along, you and Alec have to…"

"CLARISSA. CLOSE YOUR MOUTH OR I WILL CLOSE IT FOR YOU. I NEED MY BEAUTY SLEEP, DARLING. THANK YOU." Magnus sounded incredibly upset. Clary almost felt bad that he was hurt over his fight with Alec, but she really just wanted to make sure that she would get to be with Jace the next night, and to do that she had to ensure that Alec and Magnus stopped fighting. Talking to Magnus, she believed, was her only option.

"Wow… you're in a bad mood." As soon as she had said it, she heard a snap of Magnus's fingers and felt a strange sensation in the area of her mouth. When she tried to open her mouth to ask Magnus what he had done, she found that she couldn't. Her mouth didn't hurt, it just wouldn't open.

"Sorry I had to do that, Clarissa, but I need to sleep and I asked you nicely multiple times. I'll open it in the morning." He was stern with her. Clary could not believe that Magnus would do that to her. He had always been so kind to her… in a much gentler voice, one that sounded aged and exhausted, he then said, even if it was just to make her feel a little better,

"Good night, biscuit."

Clary was later woken up by a rapping noise on the door. When she stood up and opened the door for the figure standing outside, she smiled brightly.

_Jace, _she tried to say, but then realized that she still couldn't talk. So she gave him this closed-mouth smile, vaguely aware that she looked like an idiot.

"Alec snores and kicks and is a ridiculously bad roommate. Can I sleep in here?"

Clary kept smiling.

"What's wrong?" Jace looked concerned. Clary was rarely quiet.

Clary ran back into the room, further confusing Jace. He was a little less confused once she came back with a pad and paper, scrawling,

**MAGNUS SHUT MY MOUTH SO HE COULD SLEEP**

Jace chuckled, and that chuckle soon turned to a laugh.

"It's okay… I don't plan to… _talk…" _Jace said, and gave her a kiss that she thought probably was supposed to involve tongue, but came out more as Clary clenching her mouth together and Jace trying with all his might to pry it open. It was not graceful. Clary chuckled as best she could and puled Jace's hand in the room, and pretty soon they were all asleep, wrapped up in each other, because Clary wasn't good for doing much else but cuddling at the moment.

Magnus slept soundly that night.

**Did y'all like the Sizzy? I basically d'awwed while I was writing it. The next chapter will involve breakfast the next morning (and Clary's attempt to eat it). I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it! Please leave a review with things you liked, didn't like, want me to write about, etc. I really appreciate the support!**


	4. Cascade of Eggs

The continental breakfast bar was a massive configuration delights that Simon had never even been able to conjure up in his most crazy dreams. As many times as he told himself that he was staying in a hotel in Vegas for two weeks with his girlfriend and his best friends, he still was finding it pretty hard to believe when he actually saw things like this breakfast bar, when he actually _experienced_ a waffle with ten different potential fillings and ten _different _potential toppings. But the hardest thing to believe, Simon thought, was that the beautiful girl in front of the breakfast bar was his, that she loved him and that he loved her. It was a dream come true in and of itself. They could be at the Super 8 motel in the middle of a cornfield, Simon thought, and he would still be living a miracle. He and Isabelle sat down and began wolfing down their breakfasts, still joking and laughing and enjoying each other's company trough comfortable conversation.

Alec was the next person to emerge into the hotel lobby, looking incredibly well rested and yet almost as incredibly unhappy. He sulked, plopping down next to his sister with a big bowl of bran flakes and eating a large, loud, crunch of a bite as if he were a fierce predator and the bran flakes were his prey. _He's angry, _Isabelle thought, _from what happened yesterday with Magnus. _She felt vaguely awful for all but forgetting her brother's sorrows in her own bliss, but she was too happy to really join him in his sulking. Instead she said,

"Good morning, dear brother of mine!" She put a hand on his shoulder and smiled almost too brightly. She hoped, as Simon did, that the smile would be contagious.

It wasn't.

Alec shrugged her off and made a low growling sound from his throat. He then continued to quietly eat his bran flakes.

So much for that.

When Jace and Clary came out of the room that Clary was supposed to be sharing with Magnus, Jace selected a huge pile of toast, berries, and eggs for both his girlfriend and himself. He began to eat. Clary tried to begin to eat, too, hoping that it was possible that her mouth would open for this purpose seeing as Magnus had been sound asleep clutching a pillow as if it were another person the last time she had seen him. He showed no signs of waking up any time soon. She picked up a forkful of eggs and pressed them against her lips, but instead of eating them in the way he was supposed to, she ended up with eggs cascading off her fork, down her face, and onto her chin and shirt as she looked incredulously at her place.

Isabelle, Simon, and even her own dear boyfriend began to roar in laughter at the ridiculous sight.

Realizing that she was making a fool of herself, Clary flushed a deep red and picked up two napkins: one to wipe off her chin and clothes, and one to scrawl a message to hand to Alec.

**WHAT TIME DOES MAGNUS USUALLY WAKE UP?**

Alec still hadn't even smiled despite the morning's events. He was shooting his parabatai a deeply hurt expression that Jace had even barely noticed. Clary assumed it was from fighting with Magnus, she supposed, but she needed this information and she figured that the fight probably wouldn't last much longer. She supposed she expected Alec to make some kind of sarcastic remark, but instead he just looked to her with sad baby blues and said in a cracked voice, "Twelve, maybe one." He then went back to quietly eating his bran flakes, and excused himself quietly as soon as he finished. Jace followed him out of the room.

"Alec?" Jace asked. "What's wrong?"

Alec turned around and shot Jace a look. It was a guarded look, a safe look, with his hands crossed tightly over his torso and his eyes boring into the other boy's.

"You told me that you weren't uncomfortable with my homosexuality," Alec said. It came out as an accusation rather than as a statement.

"I'm not!" Jace sounded surprised.

"So why did you leave?" The hurt was evident in his voice.

"You snore. You kick. You socked me in the face. You don't remember any of this?"

"I…what?" Alec said. A small smile played on his lips.

"You socked me in the face in your sleep and then grunted this massive elephant grunt. I left to avoid pain. Then I ran into Clary, who was mute…"

Alec made a low laughing sound. He was visibly relieved.

"So you didn't leave me because I'm gay?"

Jace was taken aback. "Alec, you're my best friend, my brother, my parabatai. I've known you were gay for, like, ever. Why would it make any difference now when it never did before?"

Jace was clearly telling the truth, and pretty soon they were laughing at how ridiculous the situation is.

"You know, you really should make up with Magnus," Jace told him at last. "You'll both really have a much better trip if you do."

Alec smiled. "I plan to talk to him as soon as he wakes up.

Jace smiled back. "Good."

Magnus did not wake up at one, as Alec had said, but at two. He claimed that this was because it took him an hour to do his hair, which Jace supposed he shouldn't doubt. But he just wanted Clary's mouth to open as soon as possible so she could stop making horrible moaning sounds that Jace supposed meant that she was hungry, both for food and for him.

"BANE!" Jace roared as Magnus began to walk toward the breakfast bar to take a three cheese omelette. "OPEN MY GIRLFRIEND'S MOUTH. NOW!"

Magnus made a face as if he were just remembering something and then snapped his fingers. "Sorry biscuit," he said to her. "I totally forgot about that. Slept well last night, though." Clary simply glared at him in response, which was funny because now that she was given the ability to talk, she didn't.

Magnus pondered this irony, chuckled, slid the omelette onto his plate, and plopped down in the seat next to Alec. "Hey, darling," he said. Alec looked blankly back at him in response. "Can we please talk? I want to apologize for yesterday."

Alec said nothing, but took Magnus's outstretched hand and walked with him away from the table.

"Well," Jace said, "I'll bet you almost anything that omelette is going to go uneaten." He turned to Clary, hoping for a reply, but she was already too focused on her eggs to care.

"Alexander, you know I love you, right?" Magnus looked at Alec expectantly. He really wanted, needed his boyfriend to know that he was special to him, important, the most important part of his life and he was never going to let him go. Alec sighed.

"I know Mags. It's just… hard sometimes, you know?"

Magnus smirked at the innuendo. To Magnus, almost everything was an innuendo.

Noticing the smirk, Alec's stoic expression turned to a look of fury. "You think this is a joke, Magnus? I'm not joking. It's really hard for me to accept, even knowing so much more about your past, that you are eight hundred years old, have slept with basically as many people as are in this city over the course of your life, and just move on when they die. It hurts me knowing that one day, I'll just be some distant memory to you, some guy you might have slept with onc, but you don't completely remember…"

Magnus put a finger to Alec's lips, shushing him.

"One guy I slept with? Alexander," Magnus tsked, "You don't understand what you are to me, do you?" He looked deeply into the other man's big blue orbs, that were not glistening with tears. Magnus understood that Alec felt insignificant, but he was all but that, and Magnus needed him to see that.

"You don't understand what you are to me. You read my notebook. You read about all those other people. They don't even warrant being glanced at in comparison to you." Magnus was honest with him. Magnus had promised to be honest with him.

"And how do I know that a hundred, two hundred years from now, you won't be telling some other boy that? Or some girl?"

Magnus looked hurt, but not surprised. "You don't. But I'm telling you, I would never. I love you more than anyone, Alexander. Ever. And I always will. I never shared my past- all of myself- with anyone before. And I plan to have every experience on Earth with you. I mean it. I would never hurt you like that, I promise." Magnus had promised to be honest with him. He had promised. Promised… and Magnus was the person he trusted more than anyone else in the world…

Alec leaned in to kiss him, deeply and passionately. Magnus could feel in that kiss that Alec believed him.

They loved each other now, and they always would.

**Andddddd all three of our lovely ships are back in business! Next up: A day at the casino! Because really, what else is there to do in Vegas? :P**


	5. Texas Holdem with Brother Zachariah?

"What is there to do in Vegas?" Clary inquired to the rest of the group, always having heard stories about it but not quite believing them once she was actually there. She always heard that Vegas was simply sin city, simply a place for people to have sex and do drugs and get roaring drunk and have even more sex. Clary was not considering in partaking in drunken sex with strangers, and was fairly certain that her companions weren't either. Still, there had to be something they could do…

"What do you mean?" Magnus looked shocked and appauled by Clary's question. He had imagined that he would be the one most understanding of their destination, but he didn't think that anyone would seriously ask what there was to do here.

"Like… are we just gonna sit around in the hotel lobby all day? Or are we going to decide on something to do?

Knowing that his friends would need a little more time to adjust to the life of the city before going to any of the really fun laces, with the exception of possibly Isabele, but she was more like him than either cared to admit, he simply smiled. He knew the perfect place for them to get adjusted to Vegas without doing anything too crazy.

The casino was filled with blinking lights, colourful switches, and elaborate machinery used for playing games and, as Alec so graciously put it, eating all your money until you yourself were sick to your stomach. Alec was trying so hard to enjoy himself, and he was very happy to be there with Magnus, but that was basically the only good thing about it for him. Clasing Magnus's left hand in his while he used his right to take his chances with the slots, his only thought was thay he couldn't wait to get back to the hotel and spend time with Magnus. He hadn't seen the fantasy suite yet and had a feeling that he would like it _very _much.

"YES!" Magnus's voice brought Alec back into reality.

"What…"

"I WON TWENTY DOLLARS!"

Alec sighed, resisting the urge to mention the fifty that he had lost earlier.

"I think we should try Texas Holdem," Clary had whispered to Simon. Yes, they were underage, bit Magnus had simply gotten them in using a wave of his fingers and a few blue sparks. Jace and Isabelle were busy trying their luck with some large machine that Simon thought looked like a giant spider.

"Sure," Clary said in response. "Don't see why not."

"That table has a couple waiting at the other end. Maybe we could play against them," Simon said loudly over all the noise, jerking his chin toward a man and a woman sitting at the other end of a poker table. The girl was smiling in a dress that looked a little old fashioned, wearing a jade pendant around her neck and a jade bracelet around her wrist. She was tousling the dark hair of the boy, who was smiling through his dark lashes, the remnants of scars barely visible on his cheekbones.

"SIMON!" Clary said, a little too loudly.

"Hmm?"

"Don't you recognize them?"

"Um… no?"

Clary looked surprised, but then she sighed. She forgot often that Simon still didn't quite have his memory back.

"Remember brother Zachariah?"

"OH! I heard about him."

"THAT'S HIM AND TESSA GRAY!"

Simon looked doubtful, but then when Tessa looked up and waved a little, and Jem looked surprised to see them, all his doubt went out the window.

He grabbed Clary's arm and began to walk toward the duo.

**AN PLEASE READ!**

**Hey y'all, sorry for the really long delay in uploading and the somewhat short chapter :/ I'm in college and am having difficulty finding time to write. I apologize. In any case, I have not forgotton this fic! I am still continuing it! Do you want me to write a poker match between Jessa and Clary and Simon or not? I could take this either way. In any case, thanks for the support. Please don't give up on this fic- I haven't yet!**

**Also, yes, reviewer, you may translate my story to Spanish, thanks for asking. Just be sure to give me full credit for the story and we'll be good.**

**~H**


	6. I don't want to poke her!

**Hey everyone! I feel awful for not updating as much as I used to. It's just that I'm in college and have trouble sometimes finding the time to write. In any case, here is the next chapter! I did what I could with it. I fully intended to have them play poker, but then I realized... I myself have no clue how to play, so I can't possibly write it... I hope you like what I did instead. I personally prefer this, I think it's funnier... Anyway. Without further ado, here you go!**

"Clarissa Fray?" Tessa looked at Clary, her eyes wide with surprise. "What are you doing here? And your friend, too?" Clary looked at Tessa with a nearly equal level of astonishment. It was incredibly strange that they would meet Tessa Gray and Brother Zachariah, here of all places. She wondered if it was seriously a cosmic coincidence or if someone or something was trying to send them a message.

"My friends an I came here for the week… what are you doing here?" Tessa smiled.

"Jem still has a lot to learn about modern, mundane culture. Especially since he retired from being an active Shadowhunter, he really needs to be in touch with today's world." She touched Brother Zachariah's arm lightly. It took Clary and Simon a moment to realize that he was, in fact, Jem. "I thought, that because Vegas itself is a great pit of vice, bringing him here may show him the worst- and the best of our world." She sighed. "Plus, we're having a good time together. Which is important, because we're…" Tessa smiled at Jem.

"Engaged to be married," her betrothed finished, smiling equally widely.

Simon smiled and spoke up for the first time. "Congratulations."

Tessa smiled back at him. "I hear that you lost many memories of the Shadow world, Mr. Lewis-"

"Simon."

"Yes. Simon. Have you been having an easy time remembering things?"

It hadn't been easy for Simon, no, but he was getting better. He remembered most big occurances and events that shaped his experiences, though he still had trouble calling details to mind. He told Tessa and Jem so.

"I see," Tessa started, but it is Jem who then spoke.

"I know it's hard," he told Simon. "I became a Silent Brother for many years before I was able to restore my old self. I, like you, feel as if I am desperately trying to become something that I once was at times, and cannot quite reach it." He smiled a small smile as Tessa put her hand on his. "It's worth it, though," he noted, smiling at her. "It will be worth it for you, too."

"Yes." Simon thought of Isabelle, Isabelle who had told him she loved him just the night before. Isabelle, who he loved back. "It already is."

None of them noticed the two men creeping up behind Tessa until a pair of finely manicured hands covered her eyes. She gasped in shock.

"Tessa! Oh my God! It's so good to see you!"

"Magnus!" The two friends exchanged a hug. Alec looked on awkwardly. When she parted from Magnus's embrace, she smiled at him. "I'm Tessa Gray. You're… Alec Lightwood? I've heard a lot about you. My, do you bring so many memories to surface…"

"Y-yeah. I… I'm Alec…" he said.

"No need to be nervous." Tess smiled sweetly. "Magnus has told me that you are amazing. I like you already. Anyone that Magnus loves is a friend of mine.

Alec smiled. "I've heard nice things about you, too, Tessa. It's nice to meet you…. Um… should I call you Aunt Tessa…?"

Magnus burst out into uncontrollable laughter. The thought of his fiancé addressing his best friend as "Aunt Tessa" was hilarious, though technically truthful.

Tessa's smile became uncomfortable. "Tessa is fine, haha. Might be a little awkward, especially for Magnus…"

Alec blushed.

After a lot of theatrics, whining, sleeve pulling, pleading, and dramatic interpretation, Magnus eventually convinvced them to start a game of… go fish. Jem had never even heard of poker before- when Tessa brought it up after Magnus told them to get the game rolling, Jem simply looked from Tessa to Clary, and stated, "Tessa, I don't want to poke her. I don't know her all that well." Tessa, letting it go because it was adorable, tried to explain it to Jem as Clary, Simon, Alec, and Magnus talked idly in the background about how cute Jem and Tessa were, but she failed to succeed in her explanation. Simon then suggested that they try a more elementary game, which, to Magnus's horror and dismay, brought them here… to Simon asking Alec if he had any aces.

"Go fish…" Alec said.

"Hey!" Magnus said. "If he asks, you have to give him your aces. Those are the rules. You can only bluff in poker." Only Magnus knew Alec's biggest secret: though an otherwise ethical person, he loved to cheat at cards. He thought that because there were no real consequences, it didn't matter anyway.

Alec pouted, but handed Simon the cards.

"James!" Magnus exclaimed grandly. When Alec began to protest, he looked into his boyfriend's bright blue eyes. "No," he said to Alec. "You lost your turn when you cheated." Alec pouted again, earning him Magnus's hand tousling his hair as he said, "Do you have any sixes?" Jem looked at him, confusedly, and picked up the fish pile and handed it gently to Magnus.

"There might be some here."

"Are you telling me to go fish?"

"…No? I don't think there's a lake around here. There might be a six in the card pile."

Tessa whispered something into Jem's ear and his face curled into an astonished expression. "Yes, Magnus. Go fish." He looked surprised but happy as Magnus drew a king from the pile. He huffed. Then he huffed again when he realized that everyone knew that he did not get a six because his face gave him away every time.

"Your turn, Jem," Clary grinned.

"Um… Tessa can go?"

Tessa sighed. "No Jem, it's your turn now." Jem was a little confused- there was no inherent order to the turns- but looked at Alec.

"Do you have any eights?"

Alec put on a mischievous little boy grin, the kind that the Cheshire cat might have.

"No."

Magnus sighed and handed Jem Alec's three eights.

It was a long day of cards, games, and learning for Jem, but Jace and Isabelle managed to make a few dollars in the slots. They went out for dinner that night, went back to the hotel, and crashed. It sucked that, now that the couples were together, they were so exhausted. That night, all they wanted to do was sleep. Simon crashed on the bed while Isabelle washed her hair, only to join him later and trace the patterns on his sleeping face. Clary and Jace fell asleep smiling mid-conversation, their hands entwined together. Alec and Magnus wrapped themselves up in each other and quickly fell asleep, smiling, happy and filled with love to be in each other's presence. Jem and Tessa, who readily agreed to combine their Vegas trip with everyone else's, got a room on the same floor as their friends and fell asleep very quickly, muttering each other's names in their sleep as they pressed together unconsciously.

Four happy couples, peacefully on vacation. Little did they know that they were going to get themselves into more trouble tomorrow than they had on this trip yet.

**Well, that's that! Please leave a review, lemme know what you think. Want anything specific? More Malec? More Sizzy? More Clace? More Jessa? I know exactly what my next chapter is going to be, haha. I also have a special appearance planned- not for the next chapter, but definitely for one of the next ones- of another character that I KNOW you all are going to enjoy. Please stick with me here! :)**


	7. Drunken Fun Part I: The Boys

Everyone stayed in their rooms until late the next morning. When they all finally emerged, well rested and excited for the night ahead of them, they began to discuss what was going to happen.

"Simon and I were talking last night, and we want to go to the arcade here," Isabelle said, twirling her gorgeous black hair around a pink fingernail. "He was talking about some of the great video game systems they have there- old ones- and it actually…" she bit her lip. "It actually sounded pretty cool. I didn't know Vegas had a section for gaming… I thought it was all vice…"

Magnus gaped. "You seriously came to Vegas to play video games?" It was clear that he was shocked and appalled. "Since we got here, all we've done is act like children, eating eggs and playing go fish! None of us have even gotten drunk yet! I say that tonight, we hit the bars…" He flopped over onto the white leather couch with a dramatic sigh and put the back of his hand to his forehead.

Simon and Isabelle looked at each other and seemed to speak with their eyes.

"Alright."

The girls- Clary, Isabelle, and Tessa- having got a little bit tipsy, wandered away to go see something. The guys had asked them over and over again what that something was, but they had just giggled and high fived each other. Clearly, it would be there little secret. Jace, for one, was not concerned what Clary did. He knew that Clary loved him and would remain faithful no matter what. Simon, at this point, like Jace, didn't care what Isabelle did, because he knew that no matter if she noticed other guys or not, her heart belonged to him. The thought made him smile. Jem, like Jace and Simon, was unconcerned about Tessa, but for a different reason entirely.

"Oh, dear!" Jem exclaimed, his face red from the alcohol he had consumed. "Miss, what happened to your clothing? Do you need money to buy new ones?"

The other men sighed. This was not the first time that Jem had done this. For the past half hour since the girls had wandered off, Jem had used his alcohol ridden stupor to pull aside poor girls to ask them if they were in need of robes. This girl was a prime example of the type of girl he had been stopping, wearing a top that could only pass off as a sleek bra at best, a skirt too short for her own good, and torn fishnets. She also wore a large black necklace that looked something of a spider, though none of them could place exactly what it was.

"Go to hell," the girl told him, clearly believing Jem to be harassing her when in reality he was only asking a simple question. When he was drunk, he apparently could not be reasoned with. He was still stuck in 1878, where the girls wore corsets under their long dresses and were always fully covered in the presence of men.

Alec sighed. He was bored. He, along with Simon, were the only ones who refused to get drunk. While Simon simply did not want to, saying that it was fun just to sit back and watch his friends be tipsy, Alec felt an obligation to remain sober. Drinking in public was stupid, anyway, he told himself. He did not mind having alcohol- he had been drunk before more than a few occasions- but he wanted to remain with his senses when he was out. He wanted to be able to look after his friends and siblings sober, for he feared what would happen if they had no one to protect them. He decided that, because it seemed that no one was paying attention to him with Simon watching as Jem tried to hand out full length robes to hookers and Jace and Magnus danced and laughed wildly over nothing, he was going to go grab himself a glass of water and wait by the bar playing Tetris on his phone. He had to beat level ten, after all.

"Hey, Mags?" He tapped his lover on the shoulder. Magnus took one look at Alec and wove his arms around his neck.

"Whassap, luvvv?" He was clearly drunk. Alec sighed and picked up Magnus's arms, one at a time, and pried him off him.

"I was gonna go to grab some water. You can join me if you like."

Magnus burst into hysterical laughter. Alec sighed. Nothing was that funny.

"Your face. I like it. It looks like a beautiful dinner plate."

"Magnus… alright. Thank you. I'll see you later."

Magnus laughed again, "I love youuu Alexanderrr!" Alec ignored him and turned around. He heard more laughter from behind him and Magnus slapped his ass.

"Magnus! No! We're in public!"

Magnus laughed and flushed even more red than before. "I was only bein'… joking…"

Alec walked away as fast as his legs could carry him.

Eventually, Simon got bored of Jace, Magnus, and now Jem's terrible motor skills. He decided to go over and sit by Alec, who, ironically, was playing video games on his phone. "Yeah! Line clear!" he mumbled to himself as Simon plopped down in the bar seat next to him.

"Want anything?" The bartender asked.

Simon smiled. "Just a coke." The bartender grunted and handed him one.

"Hey Alec."

"Shhh. I'm gonna beat Tetris this time."

"You should come when me and Izzy go to that arcade."

Alec angrily turned off his phone and cursed loudly. He blushed a bright red when he realized that others had heard the word. "You made me lose, Simon."

"Sorry."

Alec folded his arms across his chest. "Fine."

The two then began to engage in idle conversation until they each felt a hand on their shoulders.

"Hey, boys." Two identical girls- clearly twins, and equally clearly hookers- had their hands looped around the boy's shoulders, one around Alec and one around Simon. Alec blushed crimson, and Simon started to stammer.

"I, uh, I mean, I , uh, well, you're pretty, um, but, ah…"

"You're dating my sister," Alec reminded Simon, trying to free himself from the grasp of twin A. "You, please get off me."

"You? My name is… Carolyn," she said in a voice that Alec was fairly sure she intended to sound seductive, but to him sounded more like a running car engine. 'And that's my sister… Marilyn."

Apparently Marilyn looked bored after hearing that Simon had a girlfriend, and she let go of him and swung herself onto the other side of Alec as her sister. Alec got redder and redder. "Please get off me."

"Aww, come on, baby, don't be that way."

"I'm gay!"

"Don't be that way. We can change you." Carolyn and Marilyn pressed their lips to either cheek in perfect harmony as Alec flapped his elbows out in an effort to push both off simultaneously. As the helpful friend he was, Simon started to ty and pry Marilyn's shoulders far away from Alec so that they would come off, but to no avail.

"I DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE. GET OFF ME." Alec was clearly angry now. "I HAVE A BOYFRIEND. A SERIOUS ONE. I LOVE HIM VERY MUCH. I DO NOT LIKE YOU. LEAVE."

"Maybe he could join, too?"

"No! You're not-"

"HEY." A voice came from behind the scene. Alec tried to turn his head to see what was happening- he knew the voice so well, it was Magnus, and clearly upset. "What do you think," he inquired in a dangerously low tone, "You are doing?"

"Hey, mister," Marilyn pried herself off Alec and latched onto Magnus's shoulder. "Looking for a good time?"

"NO," Magnus bellowed, blue sparks shooting out of his fingertips in a particularly threatening way. Magnus could be scary, Simon thought, when he was angry. "Get off my boyfriend." He hiccupped. He was still clearly very, very, drunk.

Carolyn hopped off Alec. "Sheesh," she said. "Let's just go, Marilyn. Tall, dark and handsome may be a hottie, but this group is too much to handle for one night."

The twins strode off.

"Thank you," Alec whispered to Magnus, but serious Magnus was gone. In his place was the drunk and laughing boyfriend that Alec had seen earlier. Magnus looked at Alec.

"You shouldn't love them…"

"I don't. I only love you."

"They were all hangy hangy glommy glommy."

"He tried to get them off," Simon said in Alec's defense. "They were relentless. They wouldn't let go."

Magnus laughed really hard again even though nothing was particularly funny.

"I know. Alec loves meeee, Alec loves meeee, la la la, I love Alec tooooo," he sang. Alec smiled a little bit. It was embarrassing, he thought, but sweet. He was lucky that someone loved him this much. He turned around to hide his blush, and heard laughter behind him as Magnus, for the second time that night, slapped him on the backside.

"Magnus! No! We're in public!"

Magnus fell to the floor in hysterics.


	8. Drunken Fun Part II: The Girls

That night, the boys weren't the only ones who had a good time. The girls, too, in their drunken stupor, were well able to enjoy themselves. Clary, the least drunk of them, simply stared at them in confusion in the beginning. Isabelle was laughing, wandering the streets outside the bar where their drunken boyfriends were doing God knows what, taking things from an almost equally giggly, tipsy Tessa's hand. Tessa, Clary speculated, was simply a good happy drunk, where Isabelle… well, Clary already knew what Izzy was like when she was drunk. She shuddered, remembering a certain incident last year involving a lighter and a stack of cat treats. Wild, crazy, drunken Isabelle.

"I have an idea!" Izzy exclaimed. Clary sighed. She wanted to protest to her friend, but she was always woozy and lightheaded when drunk, and found that she did not have the strength to do so. "W'all should go to the boy's car… _hic… _and we should… _hic… _put stuff on it…"

Tessa giggled. "Yeah! But not my car. My car is gonna stay clean." She looked way too giddy, Clary thought, for her own good. It was weird for her to see Tessa this way. She always saw her more as an adult than as her equal- maybe because she knew her mother, but then again Magnus also knew her mother, and Clary considered him her friend and her peer- but Tessa was something else to her, more of a relative like figure than she was a friend. Getting to know Tessa over the course of this trip, though, Clary liked her a lot. She could see them being friends.

"What kind of stuff though?" Tessa's voice brought Clary back to reality.

"I dunno… _hic…_ maybe them…?" Isabelle pointed to a pile of dirt and dried leaves that was lying on the side of the road. It took Clary a minute to realize that she was lying level with the leaves, that her coordination had become so bad that she was sitting on the cold wet ground. She desperately wished she could be a fun drunk like Tessa, though maybe not as crazy a drunk as Isabelle. She sighed.

Tessa smiled brightly. "Yeah! Don't seem… harmful…"

With Tessa's rally of consent, Isabelle walked over to the pile of dirt and picked it up in her bare palms. Clary couldn't help but think that sober Isabelle would be absolutely disgusted by her drunken self's behavior with the dirt. Izzy began to slather the dirt all over the car, laughing maniacally as she did it. Tessa started to pick up the eaves and put them on the car, sticking them to it in poorly coordinated patterns using the dirt as glue. Clary idly wondered what Jace was going to do.

Once the car was all dirty and covered in leaves, Isabelle started to cackle. "You know what this needs?" She asked. Without giving Clary and Tessa any time to answer, she shouted, "FIRE!" She pulled a lighter out of her purse. Clary thought, _Izzy is such a pyro when she's drunk. _But because she couldn't move without feeling nauseated, Clary said nothing.

Isabelle took out the lighter from her purse- Clary idly wondered where she had gotten it since she was not a smoker- and began to light the leaves on fire. The leaves burst up in flames, taking the car with it. Shock and horror filled Clary as the car burst up and she thought, _this is it. This is it. We're actually stranded in Vegas. We're never getting back to New York. _She said nothing. Her head was throbbing and the world was spinning.

"Magnus can portal us home!" Isabelle exclaimed. Tessa did not look impressed. She stood, her mouth wide open and her eyes agape, at the car.

"Isabelle Lightwood! You just burned by best friend's car!"

"No I didn't!" Isabelle laughed.

"Then what is this here?" Tessa gestured to the flames rising up from the metal contraption, the car melting to the ground.

"FIRE!" Isabelle laughed.

"We need to get here before Magnus comes back and is drunk and angry."

"He won't be angry."

"Of course he will be! Anyone would be angry, Isabelle! You burned his car to a crisp."

"Not his car. A car." Isabelle seemed to think this was the funniest thing in the world, as she collapsed to the ground laughing and pointed at the license plate. Sure enough, the car did not belong to Magnus, but was rather simply a car of the same type. Clary watched in horror as Tessa began to panic. "Oh goodness! What are we going to do? Isabelle! You lit a stranger's car on fire!"

Clary agreed with Tessa. Her horror was shared by Clary, though not expressed. Clary watched Tessa's eyes widen more as she saw figures emerging behind Tessa and Isabelle and heard their loud footsteps clanking against the pavement.

"Izzy! Tessa!" Alec's voice made both girls turn. He sounded stern and angry, Clary thought, not that he wasn't justified in his anger. Magnus staggered behind him, laughing and clearly drunk. "That isn't even our car! Isabelle… WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? THIS IS ILLEGAL, ISABELLE. WE'LL GO TO JAIL-" Magnus put a hand on Alec's shoulder.

"Calm dow- _hic- _down, darling," he told him, and began to gently trail his hand along Alec's body.

"MAGNUS! I AM NOT HAPPY RIGHT NOW. DON'T TOUCH ME."

Magnus jumped back in surprise and his cat's eyes were filled with tears, as were Isabelle's. Alec was angry, and they were drunk, and they were emotional, and Alec was screaming and cursing and now kicking a tree in frustration. He was yelling something about being the only sane one here.

Magnus snapped his fingers and the fire vanished. In its place was a car that looked exactly the same as the car that Isabelle had ruined, only this one was glittery and pink. "See Allie? See love? We just-_ hic-_ improved it. We didn't_- hic- _ruin anything.

Alec turned around. "Magnus, NO! MAKE IT THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE!"

Magnus grabbed Isabelle and they both started crying. "Don't hate meee… Alec… _hic…_"

Alec calmed down. "I don't hate you, Mags. I'm just frustrated."

Magnus and Isabelle looked at each other and broke down into laughter, Alec rolled his eyes. Nothing struck him as that funny, but drunk people were strange.

"I'm going to go find Jace and Simon," Tessa said. She was still slightly tipsy, but because she had paced her drinking she was the most sober of the intoxicated people. "The rest of you, get into Magnus's car. His _real _car," Tessa emphasized. "Alec drives." She said this pointedly to Magnus to ensure he wasn't going to try any antics to take the wheel. Alec nodded and picked up the keys. He put Magnus in the passenger seat and Isabelle in the back. By this point, Tessa had come back with Jace and Simon, and the three of them piled in as well, Jace still trying to dance even in the confinement of the car. Alec sighed at his parabatai, and then went over to Clary to try and lift her. He would lay her across Jace's lap, he decided. That seemed the easiest way to get them in without magic.

Clary lay unmoving and groaning. Alec took her legs in one arm and her upper body in the other. She was feeling woozier and woozier by the second. Finally, Alec got her to the car, where he laid her head on Jace's lap and her body across Simon and Isabelle. Clary turned to smile at the laughing Jace, but instead, she puked on him.

Alec sighed.

***_An hour later_***

"Hey," The man said, scratching his chin. "Was your car this sparkly when we got here? Or this pink?"

His companion looked at it with a somber expression. "It looks like a unicorn threw up on it."

"Yeah… how come?"

The man looked more closely at his car and shrugged. The car seemed to be back to normal all of a sudden. "It looks fine now…"

"Huh. Weird. Must have been a trick of the light."


	9. We're a love scene

**Hey y'all, so I know you requested more Sizzy and I was original going to just have a Sizzy chapter this time around, but one thing lead to another and I ended up just doing a chapter of hotel love scenes. No smut, but implications of sex for at least one of the couples… in any case, I love to write romanc and consider myself to be pretty good at it. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

They got back to the hotel around 3 A.M. Alec drove carefully but equally wildly; he could not get his hands to stop shaking on the wheel no matter what he did. He had never seen Magnus, wild Magnus, whom he had lived with for months, or Isabelle, crazy Isabelle that he had lived with his whole _life,_ behave in such an abominable way. It kind of scared him, to be honest, but mostly he was just embarrassed by their behavior. Jace, too, he kind of thought, but Jace really hadn't done anything besides get drunk and dance badly. The only one of these people that he was currently proud to associate with was, ironically, Simon.

They all went to their respective rooms. When Tessa started to change, Jem covered his eyes and started to freak out. He was still drunk, and he was worried that her disrobing meant that she was about to go become one of the hookers that he had been staring at all night. "Oh dear," he wouldn't stop saying. "Tessa, you can't throw your life away like that, Tessa. It isn't the life for you." Tessa, beginning to sober up, was getting annoyed.

"I'm not becoming a lady of the night, James. Relax." She meant to sound stern, but it came off as more of a joke. Her husband watched as she fiddled with her earrings- jade pearls to match her necklace given to her by Jem and her bracelet from Will- and put them into the bowl on their nightstand. Then, she slipped into a pair of pink pajamas and slid into bed next to Jem. He stroked her hair.

"…Tessa?"

"…Yes?"

"Would you like me to play you a song?"

"How about in the morning? I think… you might be too intoxicated to handle the violin." She knew that, even for an experienced and talented violinist like Jem, one's motor skills had to be keen in order to command such a small instrument. Jem merely smiled.

"I think the alcohol is beginning to wear off. I'll probably be okay in a half hour or so." Tessa took his hand in hers and smiled, for she knew it was true. Jem was no longer behaving as he had been for most of the night. "Tessa?" He commanded her attention.

"Yes, Jem?"

"Nothing, just…" he planted a quick kiss to her mouth. "I love you."

Tessa felt her face turn red. "Oh, Jem. I love you too."

"I'm so glad… so glad that this worked out. When I was in the Brotherhood… I always felt encased by glass. But that didn't mean that I didn't love, didn't yearn. It just always felt like I was seeing everything through someone else's eyes. But I thought of you, loved you every day, anyway. I wanted you there with me. You, of course, and…" he stopped, not wanting to bring up too many ghosts of the past, but they both knew who he was thinking of. "I'm glad we ended up together Tessa."

Tessa blushed a light pink and smiled. "I love you too Jem." She leaned in and kissed him. It was a kiss that left him wanting her so badly, a long lingering kiss, a kiss that showed him just how much she loved him. He smiled against her lips and pulled her down closer to him, his hands on her shoulders, and began to run his hands along the sides of her body as soon as he felt that she was secure enough against him. They gave in to each other's kisses, feeling so much love between their entwined bodies and souls that surpassed the boundaries of time. After a few minutes, Tessa pulled away from Jem and smiled.

"So, what about that song?" Tessa said teasingly.

Jem stuck out his tongue at her. "Tomorrow, like you said."

"That's what I thought," she responded, and they went back to being one with one another.

Simon, in his room, was having a lot of trouble getting Isabelle to calm down. He kept taking her shoulders and trying to tuck her into bed, but she simply wouldn't calm down. If it weren't for Simon's reflexes from his recent Shadowhunter training, the expensive hotel TV likely would have been destroyed as well as the expensive satin curtains hanging above the window.

"Izzy, No." Simon said, taking her electrum whip gently from her hand. "That isn't a demon. It's a lamp. And I'm pretty sure that this hotel has a pretty strict 'you break it you buy' policy, and I'm not sure I could afford that even if I sold my whole comic book stash."

Isabelle just got more riled up by this. "It's a demon! You're wrong. Look harder."

Simon did. He still just saw a lamp.

"Isabelle, please lay down. With me?"

Isabelle huffed, but sat on the bed and crossed her arms. "Whaddya want, Si?"

"I want you to calm down."

"…Will you lie down with me?"

Simon didn't respond, but he laid down on the spot next to where Isabelle was sitting.

"…Will you hold me?"

"I can't unless you lie down next to me, Iz." His voice was gentle, but firm. Isabelle said a string of curse words that Simon tried to ignore, kicked her stilettos at the wall, creating a hole that Simon was a little disturbed by but knew it was nothing that Magnus couldn't fix later, and plopped next to her boyfriend with a loud thunk.

Simon held her tightly.

"…Simon?" she asked. She was getting into the vulnerable, drunk stage, and Simon knew that that meant that she was going to get sad soon and he was going to have to comfort her.

"Isabelle, go to sleep. I love you, but you need rest."

"Simon?" she persisted.

"Alright. Yes Iz?"

"…do you remember when Max died? Do you remember when we were in Magnus's guest room, and I asked you to tell me a story, and you did?"

Simon didn't, but he had heard this story enough times to know that it had happened. He didn't remember the story, but he knew that he had indeed told her one.

"Isabelle, you need rest."

"I was just thinking bout it… you don't remember it…" Isabelle started to cry.

"Iz, Iz! Please, please don't cry. It's all okay. I love you Izzy. It's… it isn't my fault…"

"It isn't, you're right…Simon? Will you tell me another story?"

Simon smiled. He knew just the one.

"Sure, Isabelle." She nuzzled her cheek into his shoulder. "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…"

Isabelle cried harder and clutched Simon tightly, which he assumed was just an effect of the alcohol, but really was so much more than that.

"Magnus, No!" Alec yelled at his boyfriend. "You've done that so many times tonight! Stop hitting my ass!"

Magnus laughed hysterically. There was no reasoning with him when he was drunk. "But darling," he said. "We aren't in public anymore!"

"I don't care, Magnus. You're drunk! And not like, a little tipsy, but like, DRUNK drunk!" Alec wore an angry expression. Magnus laughed loudly.

"You said not to because we're in public! But now it's just us!"

"Still no. You're way too drunk."

"You're just- _hic-_ mad- _hic- _about that car."

Alec crossed his arms. Yes, he was mad about the car, but that wasn't it. "Magnus," he said, "I asked you not to do that multiple times. Why are you still doing it? You've always respected me before, but this is really bothering me. I need you to listen to me when I tell you not to do something, Mags."

Magnus didn't laugh at this. Instead, he just looked hurt. "I do respect you," he said. "I didn't think- _hic- _that it actually bothered you. You never had a problem with it before- _hic- _so I thought you were_- hic-_ pretending to be mad so I would _–hic- -hic-_"

"Mags. It's okay. Don't strain yourself." Alec noted that it was difficult for Magnus to talk,that he was struggling. Alec didn't like seeing Magnus struggle, and really he wasn't all that upset with him. He knew, deep down, that Magnus respected him, he just was upset by his actions when he was drunk.

"_-hic- -hic-_but you're_- hic- _mad at me, and_-hic- _I love you so much and _–hic- _I do respect you."

"Mags, I know you do. Come here." Alec smiled and stretched out a hand to Magnus. "And for what it's worth, I love you too, okay? Come here, lie down with me."

Magnus took Alec's hand and smiled. They laid down on the bed together, and Alec wrapped his arms around Magnus's midsection. Magnus also wrapped his arms around Alec, putting one hand on his upper back and letting the other hand roam freely through the blue eyed boy's hair.

"Alec, I- _hic- _love you."

"You're the best boyfriend I ever could have asked for, Mags." He let Magnus try to hiss him on the mouth, only to miss and hit his cheek instead. It was actually pretty endearing. "I'm lucky to have you."

Magnus didn't respond, and Alec realized that his love had suddenly but soundly fallen asleep. He took one arm from around Magnus and lifted it up to his boyfriend's face, beginning to trace each peaceful line of sleep on it. Alec loved Magnus, he thought, loved him more than life itself. He smiled as he recounted every beautiful day they had spent together, remembered Magnus's laugh and Magnus's jokes and his smile and his kisses and his touch and just his love. He loved Magnus's beautiful smile, his beautiful laugh, his beautiful face, his beautiful voice, his beautiful heart and soul that made Alec's miss a beat simply because it was so good. Alec smiled, and the last thing he heard before falling asleep in his lover's arms was his name being said sleepily by that beautiful voice.

"_Alexander."_

**Kay, so that's the end of the chapter. I really loved this one- I hope that it sated your want for Sizzy as well as for Malec and Jessa. I was going to include a Clace section, too, but I didn't because 1) I figure they both just passed out when they got back and Clary was not functional, and 2) I have a lot- and I mean A LOT- of trouble writing Clace. I ship Clace, yes, but nowhere near as hard as I ship Sizzy, Malec, or Jessa- three particular favorite couples of mine, along with Wessa, another favorite- so I have trouble writing Clace that measures up to the rest. I hope that you enjoyed it anyway. Please drop me a review, I really want to know how I am doing with this fic. Peace!**


	10. Jace and the Mystery Object

"Can we go to the arcade _tonight?_" Simon inquired to the group, as they sat down for breakfast- or, Simon guessed, a combination of dinner and lunch, since it was 4 P.M. The gang had gotten in the cycle of sleeping from about 3 A.M to about 3 P.M. All the fun here happens at night, Magnus told them, so they all adjusted their schedules so they could stay out all night and not be tired, while still getting their beauty sleep. Magnus looked at Simon and signed dramatically, taking his hand off Alec's momentarily to bury his head in it with a particular flair that honestly kind of scared Simon.

"Sheldon!" He complained loudly. "We didn't come to Las Vegas to play children's games! We came to engage in only the most entertaining of vice! No one wants to waste our precious time here playing games!"

Alec looked down at his black, torn sneakers. Isabelle mumbled something. Simon looked shocked. "Dude, come on. They're vintage," he protested, only to be cut off by another loud sigh from Magnus and a dramatic chomp of his cereal.

"I think it could be fun," Isabelle said.

"Me too," Alec agreed, not taking his eyes off his sneakers.

Magnus looked appaulled. "Alexander! You're supposed to be on my side!"

Alec just shrugged.

"Okay," Magnus started. "How about this. Tonight, I get to take you all to my favorite club in Vegas. Tomorrow, we'll go to your vintage whatever-it's-called-"

"Arcade."

"Yeah. That. And I won't complain AT ALL and I shall even take on my Alexander in some of the games. Scout's honor. But tonight, I have a place that I want to go. It is a place from my youth-"

"Define youth."

"300 or so. It's been around a while."

"…Fine." Simon agreed. "But tomorrow, we're going to the vintage arcade. No argument."

Magnus agreed.

The club certainly didn't look that old, but apparently it had been around a while, if Magnus was to be believed (Alec was still trying to decide if he was.) The music was blaring, the room packed with bodies moving and swaying to the music that had a beat going _thump, thump, thump. _"What're we going to do here?" Alec yelled to his boyfriend over the music. "It's packed. I don't see a place we can dance-"

"That's the beauty of it, darling," Magnus smiled lovingly at him. "Everyone dances on the same floor like an array. All the life, all the movement! I love it."

Alec smiled a little smile. It was times like these that he remembered why he loved Magnus so much. While he personally wasn't really into this kind of thing, Magnus was so full of life that it didn't matter what was going on around him. He only cared that Magnus was here, Magnus was here and Magnus was talking to him and Magnus was smiling and Magnus was laughing with him and there was Magnus-

"Darling Alec," Magnus said as quietly as one could be heard over the music, grabbing Alec's hand in his own, "May I have this dance?"

Alec smiled. "Yes."

And then he was lost on the dance floor, his body gyrating against Magnus's, the music seeming to pull them closer to each other like magnets that couldn't help but be attracted to each other, even when Alec knew that in reality it was Magnus's hand around his waist pulling him closer towards him. Only a few months ago, he remembered, he wouldn't have been caught dead doing this, especially this kind of dancing, but now there was Magnus and he loved him so much that he couldn't imagine it any other way. He found himself lost as they grinded together, he found himself gone as he looked into Magnus's happy, smiling face with his cat eyes dialated in pure ecstasy. Alec stopped dancing suddenly.

"Sweet pea?" Magnus looked concerned. "What's wrong?"

"What?"

"You look upset."

"No! Far from it. Magnus, I…" he stopped abruptly.

"What is it?"

"I love you so much, Magnus. I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have you… I don't feel like an insignificant little boy with you, but I feel really special." He smiled. "I never felt important before."

Magnus put his arm around his boyfriend's upper back and pulled him in, tightly.

"Oh, love. I love you too. More than I've ever loved anyone. I love you so, so much."

Alec smiled into the curve of Magnus's shoulder. "You make me so happy."

"God, Jace! By the Angel!" Clary looked both shocked and amused at the same time by Jace's dancing. Simon stood next to her, laughing along with her, as Isabelle attempted to instruct Jace in bettering his dancing skills.

"No, you idiot! Right foot! Other right! Oh, by the ANGEL…" Isabelle made a face of pure exasperation as Jace tripped over his left foot with his right one.

"Whatever," Jace said to his sister. "I'm so attractive, I don't need dancing skills anyway. The girls will come flocking no matter what."

Clary made a face. "You have a girlfriend," she reminded him.

"Love you Clary!" Jace shouted over the music, blowing her a kiss. She smiled a little bit.

"Love you too!"

Isabelle looked annoyed and disgusted at the same time. "Yeah, yeah, we all love each other. Great. Jace, you look like a duck on drugs. Maybe you should stop now. I'm giving up on you, I think you're a hopeless case…"

Jace looked horrified. "Duck? No."

"Uh huh."

"Those… those are evil creatures!"

"Oh, well, that's too bad." Isabelle looked over at the stage where the DJ was playing, watched the DJ pick up a large bag of something. "The giveaway," Isabelle said. "I already know what it is. I, er… someone told me."

"I love giveaways!" Clary interrupted. "I wonder what it is."

Jace watched as Isabelle said something into Clary's ear, and both of them doubled over laughing uncontrollably. Clary then whispered something to Simon, and he joined in the giggles as well.

"What's up?" Jace wanted really badly to know why everyone was laughing.

"Oh, nothing," Isabelle said, and at that moment the music stopped.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, for the giveaway- I will be throwing these mystery objects to everyone out there. If you catch an item that has an orange dot on the bottom, drinks for you and a partner tonight are on the house!"

The DJ started to throw the objects. Jace looked at the one, now in his hands in shock and horror.

"GET IT AWAY! CLARY! HELP!" He screamed, as more rubber ducks began to pour from the stage and onto the dance floor and a shrieking Jace.

Jem and Tessa looked over at Jace and smiled. It was a small smile, filled with joy and love and also sadness and loss.

"I wish… I wish _he _were here to see this," Jem said, voicing Tessa's thoughts. Tessa curled her fingers into Jem's forearms and made a sad sighing sound.

"He is James," she whispered. "I can feel it."

**Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I liked writing this one, especially the Malec scene… sigh. I really want to write more Malec scenes. In any case, I have a lot of Sizzy planned in future chapters, in the arcade (spoiler! The go soon. A couple more clubbing chapters though, and maybe another love scene chapter? What do y'all think?) Anyway, I have this idea that I've been playing with for future chapters and I need someone's help with it. Message me if you're interested in giving me ideas about this specific plot I have for a chapter on PM. Please review for a rubber duck! Love you!**


	11. Clary and Magnus cause Trouble

Turns out that none of them were able to catch a duck with a dot on it, much to Magnus's chagrin. Alec, however, did catch a duck- and when he showed Magnus that he had a duck, even if it did not get them free drinks. Magnus took the duck out of Alec's hands and grinned like the Cheshire cat. Alec looked at him with an expression of confusing as he turned the duck over and over again in his hands. He noticed that Magnus was looking over at Jace, who was over his terror from the rubber ducks falling from the sky and beginning to dance clumsily again as Isabelle yelled and Clary and Simon laughed. The corners of Magnus's mouth twisted up only slightly, Alec noticed, and his cat eyes dialated and gleamed with mischief. Alec knew that look. That was the amused look of a plotting warlock, and it made Alec worry what was to come.

"Mags, no." Alec was firm and cool, using a tone that he used when he was smaller to get Izzy to stop going through his closet and apply lipstick to his clothes to "make them more prettiful" with "the pretty colours." The difference was, Izzy had been eight then, and Magnus was eight hundred now.

"I didn't even say anything!" Magnus protested.

"You're going to throw that duck at my parabatai!"

" 'Throw' is such an ugly word," Magnus mused. "I prefer the term 'gift with'."

"I forbid it, Magnus," Alec said, remembering the commotion it could cause. "Have you ever seen Jace after someone has taunted him using ducks?"

Magnus licked his lips, hungry for the chaos that would ensue. "No darling," he said, and then quieter, so Alec couldn't hear, "that's why I have to find out."

Jace still could not get the hang of dancing, and he was beginning to get frustrated. He wanted to dance, dance with Clary, have a good time, and he was sure that Izzy would be having a better time right now too if she were able to dance with Simon rather than teach him how to keep his feet from stepping on each other. Sadly, however, he knew that his only flaw in love was his inability to make it around a dance floor in a sophisticated fashion, and he also knew that his sister was incapable of leaving well enough alone when it came to matters of sophistication. The ruby that was bobbing up and down around her neck now as she demonstrated what Jace was supposed to be doing on a confused Simon was evidence to this, so he just let her have her fun. He looked across the dance floor at Jem and Tessa, and he was instantly jealous. He knew that Tessa had probably been clubbing before, probably with Magnus, the most experienced party boy of all, but he knew that Jem never had, and he was already doing better than Jace was. He sighed to himself as he looked at the other boy and girl across the room, dancing in perfect harmony, occasionally leaning in to say something to one another and make each other laugh. They fit together perfectly, he thought, just like he and Clary would if he could dance.

Unfortunately, however, he couldn't dance, which is what brought him to this position.

Jace was unhappily musing on and on in his head as he half-heartedly paid attention to Isabelle's demonstation of "proper gyration," using Simon as her unwitting and clearly unaware pawn. Tessa was a good dancer. Jem, who had been a Silent Brother for 130 years, was a good dancer. Even Alec, his shy, awkward brother, he knew, was a better dancer than he was, especially as he looked over and saw him and Magnus dancing, two figures moving in synch under the bright blinking fluorescent lights of the club. Then, Magnus put a hand on Alec's head and walked away. Jace idly wondered where he was going, but didn't question it. Probably the bathroom, he assumed, that was reasonable.

Jace continued to have racing thoughts about dancing and Jem and Alec as a figure approached Clary. She couldn't clearly see who it was in the dim lighting, but the tall man looked as if it were…

"Magnus? Why aren't you with Alec? He looks like he's waiting for you… so… um…"

"Yes biscuit, he is." Magnus winced. "I need to get back to him soon, so I have to make this quick." He looked at Clary with an expression of feigned concern. "I have to ask you to do something for me."

_Oh God, _Clary thought. "What is it?"

Magnus smiled and whispered something to her. Clary laughed loudly.

"You'll do it?"

"Hell yeah! Sounds funny,"

"Jace," the blonde haired Shadowhunter came out of his thoughts to Clary's soft, small hand on his shoulder and her beautiful voice. He shook himself back to reality.

"What is it, sweetie?"

"…Can we take a walk out back?" Jace looked at his girlfriend. She looked so beautiful, Jace thought. He really wanted to kiss her, to hold her, to love her… he did love her, he loved her so much. Jace never loved anyone but Clary, never even knew what love was until Clary had came into his life and took him on the wildest ride ever.

He kissed her nose. "Anything for you, love," he replied, taking her hand in his and guiding her out steadily.

Magnus smiled. His plan was being put into action.

Jace turned to look at Clary and smile at here. It was so much different outside, he thought, than in the club; where there had been loud music, there was silence, and where there had beem bodies, there was air. Where there had been darkness, there were Clary's green eyes, looking at him with so much care and love that he felt his heart would burst, where there had been beats through speakers there was Clary's soft voice. The bushes were rustling, but Clary didn't seem to care, so he decided not to either. All he cared about was the beautiful redheaded girl before him, looking at him now with an expression that made his heart want to break.

"Jace?" She asked in a vulnerable voice. God, Jace thought, he was so lucky. Of course, he knew he was gorgeous, but to have Clary… he must be really special. She certainly was.

"Yes, Clary?" He squeezed her hand.

"There's something… I've been meaning to ask you."

"Yeah?"

"Jace…from the moment I met you, I knew you were the one. I knew, that… that I would be completely and entirely yours. And here, now…" she stopped. "I know that I was right all along. When I found out that we were siblings, my heart cracked in two. It was hard for me to even function, because I thought… I had lost the one. I had lost my chance at love, because I already loved you, and I knew… I knew that I would never love anyone else as I love you."

Jace stared in utter confusion. He had no idea what had brought this on, but he responded anyway, "Clary. You know I love you too-"

"Stop," she said. "Let me finish. That's why, because I know that now and in every other life I will ever have, I need to ask you a question. Jace Herondale…" she started, and Jace knew what was happening. His mind filled with questions. Shouldn't he be proposing? But no, no matter, Clary wasn't really traditional in that way. What would it be like, being married to Clary? Wonderful, he knew. How would their life be like? He watched as Clary got down on one knee.

"Will you…"

Jace braced himself as Clary drew a small box out of her pocket and opened it.

"…Accept this gift from me and Magnus?"

Jace looked down at the rubber duck in the box and whipped oud his seraph blade, screaming. The bushes that had been ruffling before parted, and a laughing Magnus and reluctant looking Alec with leaves in his hair popped out from inside them.

"THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL, BISCUIT!" Magnus yelled, tears of laughter streaming down his face as Jace proceeded to take the duck from Clary's hand and use his many weapons to slice it into little bits. Clary laughed right along with him, to Jace's dismay, giving Magnus a huge high five and pat on the shoulder. Even Alec, now, was laughing, even though he had been a little reluctant to go through with this at first. It was pretty funny.

As they were leaving, Clary looked at Jace and opened your mouth.

"Don't even start, darling," he said, Clary looked at him.

"All I wanted to say is that I wasn't lying. I love you."

Jace looked at Clary, and she noticed his features visibly soften.

"I love you too."

**Alright, guys, so I WROTE CLACE! I'M PROUD **** I'm thinking about doing a mainly Malec chapter next, what do y'all think? There will be Sizzy and Jessa chapters coming up, too- but remember that Jaccuzi in the fantasy suite that Magnus and Alec have? Yeah, that's my next chapter idea. THERE WILL BE NO SMUT but it will be fluffy and happy and a little sexy I guess. **

**Also, please go read the fics of my friend the lovely Lindsey7618AwesomeasPercabeth. She is a great writer and wrtes a lot of Malec **** Check her out!**

**Peace.**


	12. Magnus, Alec, and True Love

**THERE WAS A REQUEST FOR A VEGAS WEDDING. YES. I CAN TOTALLY DO THAT. JUST GIVE ME A COUPLE CHAPTERS KAY? :D In any case, here, have a Malec chapter. This is T-rated, just an FYI. Very T-rated. Just so we're clear and safe. No sex but definitely adult situations. CLEAR? GOOD. :D**

Finally, freezing cold and soaking wet from the rain, they all got back to the hotel. Everyone needed to get warm, so they all said goodnight to each other and went back to their respective rooms. Clary and Jace snuggled close together for warmth. Jem and Tessa went to their room and asked not to be disturbed- everyone made a quick inference what they were doing and Magnus blew them a kiss and made a comment that made all feel uncomfortable. Simon and Isabelle had a less unfortunate room experience.

Isabelle fell asleep quickly, leaving Simon freezing having taken all the blankets from the hotel room and glaring at Simon when he tried to take a couple back. Simon tried so hard to just deal with it, huddling into his body to try and keep himself warm with the layers and layers of clothing he had brought. It was hard, though, when you only had brought T-shirts with fun slogans on them like _"Here, we _create_ with _riccolini." He needed to think where he could get another blanket, but unfortunately he wasn't thinking rationally. After about 10 minutes of thought, he smiled. He knew where to get some blankets.

Only two rooms away from Simon and Isabelle, Alec and Magnus got situated in the fantasy suite. Alec shivered in a noticeable and obvious way and Magnus moved close enough to him to share their body heat.

"You okay, sweet pea?" His face was contorted into a look of worry. Alec nodded, but Magnus, whose arms were now securely wrapped around his boyfriend, felt another shudder pass through Alec's body and knew that he was cold, so cold. He leaned in and kissed his cheek, causing Alec to turn scarlet. Then, he moved his lips to Alec's ear. "You're so cold." Alec nodded again. He was happy to be so close to Magnus, he thought, who was warm, so warm, even though he too was sopping wet and had goosebumps that Alec could feel against his arms. "We have a hot tub. You know that, right? Perks of having the best room in the house."

Alec said nothing but continued to shiver.

"Would you like to go in?"

Alec managed a nod. "o-o-okay-okay." He shuddered again, and Magnus secured his arms around his waist and brought them closer together.

"Shhh, love, you're okay. Here, I'm gonna put my swimsuit on so I'm gonna have to let go of you now. Then we can get into the hot tub and that will help your chills a lot, darling." He flashed him a glittery wink. Magnus would have been perfectly comfortable going in without their swimsuits, but he knew that Alec would feel awkward and valued his boyfriend enough not to suggest something that could make him uncomfortable. Alec managed to smile at Magnus.

"M-m-me too. I'll t-t-t-t-" another shudder- "turn around." And he did, and both of them were facing back to back as they quickly changed and sat in the jaccuzi. It began to fill wilt warm water, and soon enough Alec was no longer shivering but comfortable looking into cat eyes on the other side of the tub, staring lovingly into his own blue ones. Alec smiled. "I'm so lucky to have you, Mags."

Magnus nodded. "Me too, Alexander, I love you so much. You know that, right?" Alec said nothing, but blushed a little and nodded a small nod. Magnus put out a hand to Alec, meaning for his boyfriend to take it. Instead, Alec just stared at it and then looked back up to Magnus's face questioningly. "Come here, sweet pea," he said, by way of explanation. "You're too far away."

Alec blushed. He looked at Magnus's hand, outstretched and beckoning him to come to him, and then let his eyes roam Magnus's body. Alec would feel weird getting close to Magnus in this state. Sure, they had been physically intimate before- Alec remembered a particular night in Paris- his first time- but this seemed different for some reason, more intimate in a way. Usually things just happened, but this seemed so planned out, and he knew that Magnus wasn't asking for sex but for proximity, for intimacy, for _closeness- _and somehow that scared Alec more. But then he let his eyes wander to Magnus's face, which was looking more and more crestfallen each second that Alec's hand was not in his, and his heart felt like it was cracking. He loved Magnus. He should have no problem giving proximity to Magnus, because he was already so completely _his _that their hearts might as well have already been intwined. So he smiled, still blushing red, took the warlock's hand, and allowed himself to be pulled against his boyfriend.

Simon's feet padded down the hall as he shivered, wet 'riccolini' shirt still clinging to his chest. He had a one track mind- he had to get to his destination.

"So, love," Magnus said, "Is this okay?" Alec smiled a small smile to himself. He loved how respectful Magnus always was to him and how he always made sure that he was comfortable with him.

"Yeah."

"Darling?"

"Mmhmm?" Alec nuzzled his face into Magnus's shoulder as the warlock played with a few strands of wet ebony hair.

"I just… I don't know. I love you so so much." Magnus pressed a kiss to Alec's forehead.

"I love you too, You've said that about ten times today."

"I just want to make sure that you know it, that you feel loved. Because… I really do love you Alexander, more than I've ever loved anyone or anything-" Alec felt another kiss press to his forehead- "and you deserve to feel loved, you know? So I want to make sure… that you do."

"Of course I do, Mags. How could I not? You tell me every day, more than. You tell me through small gestures. The secrets you share with me, the times we just go out and just enjoy each other's company. I can feel it in your kisses- of course you love me. And I love you too, just as much."

Magnus smiled. He looked peaceful. "Can I ask you something, Alexander?"

"Yeah, of course. Anything."

"How do you like your eggs cooked?"

"Mags…" Alec chuckled against Magnus, and Magnus felt Alec's body shake against his with laughter. That made Magnus very happy. He was glad that he could just make his love smile, that even when they were this close to each other they could still have a silly conversation about nothing or, if he wanted to, he knew that they could also have a serious one. They had done it before. "That's so random." Alec finished with even harder laughter, laughter that Magnus loved. It was a beautiful sound.

Magnus made a face, a silly one for the sole purpose of hearing Alec's laugh again. His mouth formed into a perfect 'o' shape and he looked sideways at his boyfriend. "Random? Me? Really now?" Alec laughed again and Magnus held him closer.

"Yes, really," he laughed. "Basted," Alec started to say, as Magnus leaned in closer to his mouth until their lips were almost touching. Alec loved the proximity now. "But does it…" Magnus put a hand on the back of his neck and another hand on the small of his back. "…really…" the Shadowhunter felt his own hands wrapping around his boyfriend, beckoning him closer with just a gesture. _"matter?" _he meant to finish, but was cut off by the feeling of Magnus's mouth on his.

Simon was cold. He was close. He was close. He couldn't believe that it was taking so long to get to SO CLOSE a destination. He kept having to stop in the hallway with notification on Facebook, and each time he sat on the floor to respond to Erik, who was pesky unless he had an instant response, he would huddle on the floor for warmth. He looked at the door of his destination. There was a 'do not disturb' sign on the door, but he figured this was a desperate situation. So, so desperate, so, so cold.

Alec felt his hands slide up Magnus's back, whose mouth was hot against his, and grasp his hair. Magnus let out a soft, pleased moan and began to run his tongue along Alec's lower lip, clearly wanting him to open it. Alec was all too happy to oblige. Soon, their tongues were exploring each other, bodies exploring each other, but the most amazing feeling in the world was their souls locking together, loving each other. They both knew so many little things about each other, Alec thought- the way they looked when they first got up in the morning. Their favorite colours. Their favorite jokes, things that made them laugh. Their greatest hopes and dreams and fears and most happy and painful memories and love and wishes for a good life together and more and how they each would always, _always _want no one, want nothing, but the other. Alec continued to grasp Magnus's hair with his right hand while he let his left hand roam to Magnus's hand, and Magnus put an arm around Alec's waist and closed all the space between them. He ran a hand along the Shadowhunter's spine, and Alec shivered despite the hot water. Alec tasted Sandalwood, which he loved, and soon they were a chorus of bodies and hearts and love and-

_Knock, knock, knock. _"Guys?" They both swore quietly and pulled away from each other as what was unmistakably Simon's voice came through the door. Magnus, annoyed, called, "what in Lilith's name do you want, rat boy?"

"Are you busy?"

"Yes!"

"Oh. Busy, busy, or…?'

"None of your business! What do you want?"

"Isabelle stole my blankets, and I was wondering if, uh… you guys had extras…"

"The front desk has extras, Socrates! Go there! Good God, not so bright considering your name, huh?"

"My name is Simon."

"I see you're intent on missing my point. We are not putting clothes on to open the door. Go to the desk, Sherwin. Sheesh."

Simon blushed a little at the clothes comment, but then he realized that coming here was a mistake. Of course the desk would have blankets. He mentally cursed himself for being so stupid, for creating this awkward situation, for interrupting … whatever it was that was going on in there.

"Bye, guys!"

"Go away!"

He quickly turned and walked away to the front desk.

"Well…" Magnus said to Alec. "That was… annoying."

"Yeah." Alec was blushing, He couldn't imagine what Simon was thinking about them right now.

"Want to get back to it?"

Alec sighed a little. "Actually, Mags, I'm really… tired all of a sudden." He wasn't lying. His eyelids suddenly felt heavy and his brain felt like it was going to shut down. All he wanted now was to be under the warm covers on their bed.

"Alright," Magnus said, kissing Alec on the cheek. Alec loved how the warlock never questioned his wishes and always respected them without any complaint. It made him feel cared for, if that made sense, but he wasn't sure if it did. Both Magnus and Alec hopped out of the tub and quickly dried each other. Alec pulled off the wet shorts and dived for the bed, too freezing to care about his pajamas. Magnus offered to bring them to him.

"It's okay. I'm too tired. Just come here."

"I can put on mine?"

"If you want to. I don't care."

So Magnus just crawled into bed beside Alec, and they stared into each other's eyes for a few minutes. God, Alec loved those eyes, but he was so tired…

"May I hold you?"

"I'm sleepy, Mags."

"I just want to hold you while we sleep, love, nothing else. I just thought I should ask, considering…" he gestured to himself in a small way. Alec smiled. Soon, the two of them were asleep, naked, wrapped up in each other, and too in love to care about the rest of the world.

The next morning, Alec woke up to the smell of basted eggs and burnt toast on a platter in front of him and a smiling warlock in rainbow fuzzy pajamas saying, "good morning, my Alexander."

**Woo hoo, longest chapter yet! The line from Simon's shirt is from **_**The Evolution of Mara Dyer **_**by Michelle Hodkin. It's one of my favorite books besides TMI, you should check it out **** I'm working on a fic for it right now as well. In any case, I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I know it's more T-rated than others, but I'm pretty sure it should be okay. I don't like smut, anyway. I love Malec though **** I just want to shout-out again to my friend **Lindsey7618AwesomeasPercabeth. **She is an amazing writer and also writes Malec :D In any case, looking forward to the arcade and the next update! Please review!**


	13. Magnus's Cuticles are Neglected

Simon woke up the next afternoon, happy and excited. He had a good night's sleep after having gone to the front desk; he was warm after a shower and the nice blankets that they had given him- satin, he was sure- had made sure he stayed that way all night. "Isabelle," he said, looking over to his beautiful girlfriend. "Izzy! Iz! Wake up! Guess what today is!" He knew that he sounded like a little boy on the first day of Hannukah, but he couldn't help himself. Isabelle made a groaning noise next to him and rolled over. He then took a different approach, grabbing her shoulder and shaking her until she opened her big brown eyes to glare at him. "Izzy, guess what happens today?" At this point, Simon was almost singing. Izzy looked pissed.

"You die by being stabbed with stilettos that are actually knives?" Simon ignored this comment and continued looking pleased.

"No, no, no! We're going to the arcade!" He smiled brightly. Isabelle wanted to punch it off his face.

"Asshole, you woke me up to tell me that? What time is it?"

"3 P.M! Magnus said we should head out around 5, and you always want to do your hair and blah blah blah.."

"You didn't wake me up any other night!"

"Yeah, because other nights didn't involve VINTAGE VIDEO GAMES, Iz." Isabelle sighed. She knew that she wasn't going to win this one- Simon was way too passionate about this evening happening.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she grumbled. Gimme five minutes." Simon leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

"That's my Izzy."

Isabelle stuck a single finger up into the air at Simon, and he chuckled. This was going to be quite the evening.

A half hour later, they were at breakfast. Isabelle, having fully woken up, was in a much better mood than she had been earlier in the room with Simon. He didn't appear to mind his girlfriend's earlier foul behavior, either because he was used to Izzy or because he was too busy chattering about what he hoped would be at the arcade. Isabelle was honestly pretty excited to try out the games too- ever since she had begun dating Simon seriously, she had become a bit of a closet video game geek. Alec, too, wanted to see if they had any old puzzle game machines. He loved to play puzzle games on his phone, Simon knew, he always saw him doing it. Jace and Clary were evidently getting their game on too, wearing Super Mario T-Shirts that clearly went together. Simon was happy that everyone was rallying together around this cause.

Well, almost everyone.

Magnus had promised not to complain, and he wouldn't, because he was a man of his word, but he wasn't necessarily _thrilled _by the prospect of going to the arcade. While everyone else was busy talking about what a great time it was going to be, he was inspecting his nails.

"I hope they have a Donkey Kong, the original one," Simon said.

"Dude, ever try Denki blocks?" Alec inquired to the table. "They're the best."

"I, for one, want to try Super Mario Brothers original," Jace said, gesturing to his shirt. Then, he leaned in close to Clary's ear and whispered, "Be my player two?"

Magnus watched as Clary blushed and nodded. He realized he needed to change the subject before his head exploded in a pile of hair product. "Where are Tessa and Jem?"

"Oh," Jace responded, "They said they would meet us there. Something about Jem running an errand to learn what the hell a video game was. Hey, Clary, are you any good at using a joystick?"

Magnus mumbled to himself that he _strongly _did not want to know if she could or could not do such a thing, and then asked Alec the same question. Alec responded, "I have no idea what you're talking about, but I want to try the puzzle games. Maybe they'll even have a giant Tetris!" He clearly did not get the innuendo.

"My cuticles are so neglected," Magnus said, trying a new angle at changing the conversational topic.

"Hey, think they'll have an old DDR machine?" Isabelle ignored him. Everyone else then began talking about this new possibility of a DDR machine at the arcade. They were all so excited. Magnus thought it was ridiculous, but he had made a promise. He just didn't want to talk about it right now, so he did the thing of last resort. He snatched up Alec's hand in his and gasped.

"Yours are neglected too!"

"I don't even know what a cuticle is, Mags. What is up with you?"

_What is up with me is I'm bored and you need to unbore me, _he thought. But instead, he said, "this little piece of skin at the bottom of your nails. See?" Magnus began to poke at Alec's.

"Oh. Okay. I don't care. Maybe they'll have-"

"When you take care of your nails, you're supposed to push them down with a nail care tool."

"That's nice. So anyway-"

"And then your nails become gorgeous."

"Mags, what has gotten into you?"

"Besides your-"

"OKAY," Jace said, silencing them both. "THAT IS MORE THAN ENOUGH."

Alec couldn't agree more.

The arcade was old and musty. It reminded Magnus of the past.

It actually wasn't so horrible.

Maybe he could have fun here.

**Sorry for the short chapter! More to come! I promise the next few will be fun **** ~H**


	14. Time to Dance (Fabulously): Part I

"There's a DDR machine!" Isabelle said, pointing to the wall. There was indeed, an the cool old kind of DDR machine- it looked like it was one of the earliest models, one that was definitely sturdy enough to dance to one's fullest on but at the same time made one worried that it would break. "Simon," she said, shaking her boyfriend, "let's do it!" Simon, however, was too busy looking elsewhere.

"Dude, Iz," he turned to her excitedly, "they have an original Pac-Man machine!" He walked over to it, clearly mesmerized by the blinking lights of Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde. Alec walked over and started to look at it with him too.

"Wow," he said in a soft voice. "That's really cool." He looked down at the two joysticks and turned to Simon with a challenging look in his blue eyes. "Wanna play me?"

"Seriously?" Simon asked him. The two of them had been getting closer over these past few months, but by no means were they best friends forever. Simon actually thought that Alec only tolerated him because he was dating his sister, and for no other reason. Now, though, Simon was considering that maybe he was wrong. Maybe Alec was growing to like him for his own sake, and maybe they were becoming friends. He liked the idea; he always respected and admired the other boy and thought that if they knew each other better, and if Alec would do more than tolerate him, that they could be friends. Bros, even.

"Sure." Simon was all too happy, for these reasons, to play Alec at Pac-man. He slipped in four tokens- two for each of them- and reached for the joystick. Alec did likewise, and the theme for the game played, and he began to try to chase Alec into the ghosts while Alec did to him likewise.

::4::4

Isabelle looked over at her boyfriend and brother, who were now staring intently at a small screen and occasionally one of them would cheer loudly or exclaim a loud "no." She sighed. She had wanted nothing more than to try the DDR machine. Granted, she was wearing stilettos, but if she could fight demons in such footwear she didn't see any reason why she couldn't play a video game in them. Such were the only shoes she owned, after all. "Simon!" she tried calling to him one last time, but to no avail. Simon just screamed a loud YOU BETTER RUN! at Alec and the two of them continued to laugh. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Feeling lonely without your boyfriend?" she looked down at her shoulder to see long, well-filed, glittery fingernails draped over it, tapping to the same rhythm as the Pac-man machine when Simon and Alec ate the little beads. "You aren't the only one. I was hoping to sneak off with my Alexander, away from all this nonsense…" he sighed. "In any case, Isabelle, you were interested in trying out that DDR machine, correct?" Isabelle nodded. She didn't see where exactly Magnus was going with this. "While our boyfriends engage in… that nonsense-" he waved his hand in their general direction in a particularly flamboyant way- "how about you and I go off and try some DDR?" Isabelle smiled.

"I'm gonna whoop your glittery ass, Bane."

::4::4

Tessa and Jem finally walked into the arcade to a magnificent sight. Jace and Clary were in the corner of the room playing two-player Donkey Kong, definitely looking like they were not to be disturbed in their private moment as they put their foreheads together and laughed. Then there were Simon and Alec, who were loudly playing Pac-man and seemed fully absorbed in the game. Tessa smiled. It was nice to see the two of them finally becoming close, she thought- they were going to be brothers in law before they knew it, she could sense it. Her attention, though, was grabbed more by the swirl of colour by the DDR machine in the corner of the room, where two very familiar people were swaying their hips to a particularly fast beat. "Jem," she said, "look at Magnus and Isabelle Lightwood. That's pretty impressive." Jem just looked confused.

"Tessa, what is that device?" Tessa giggled.

"Jem, it's a DDR machine. Remember, I showed you in the pamphlet?"

"Ah, yes. Dance Dance Revolution. Though I'm not sure why exactly the repetition of the word 'dance' is at all necessary. Or how it quite sparks a revolution." Tessa quietly considered this. She had never really thought about that before. Most people didn't, but her Jem was definitely something special. It was one of the things she loved about him. She curled her fingers around his.

"I'm sure we'll find out someday. Now, shall we go watch Magnus and the Lightwood girl?"

Jem smiled, reciprocating her intimate hand squeeze with his own. "Sure, Tessa. Sounds like fun."

::4::4

"GAME OVER? YOU HAVE TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME. SIMON? THE TOKENS. GIVE ME THE TOKENS. WHERE ARE THE DAMN TOKENS?" Simon laughed internally. He had no idea that Alec would be so competitive when it came to gaming. The use of curse words only proved this competition- Alec hardly ever swore, and when he did he was so shy that it usually made him blush about ten different shades of red, but not today. Today, Alec seemed to have no shame as he continued to demand tokens from Simon. "WHAT THE HELL SIMON WHERE ARE THEY. I AM GOING TO WIN. I MUST WIN! I WILL NOT HAVE THIS!"

"Alec, bro, calm down. The tokens are here." Simon held out a hand of sparkling gold tokens. Upon seeing them, Alec smiled, his eyes gleaming with a sort of joy that almost made Simon forget about the boy that had once thought that he was threatening to out him, the sad, broken, insecure boy whose voice broke just at the mention of his sexuality. Now, he really and truly realized how gone that boy was, and how in his place stood a much more happy and confident man that was more ready to take on the world. This made Simon smile back, and he began to put the tokens in the machine, but stopped abruptly by Clary coming and putting a hand on his shoulder. Alec looked at Clary and sighed. It was clear he only wanted to get back on with creaming Simon.

"Bro," Clary said in an uncharacteristically quiet way, "You may want to join me and Jace in going over to see what's up with that." She pointed across the room, where both Simon and Alec turned to see Isabelle and Magnus moving quickly, Tessa clapping, and Jem looking as if he were going to be sick for some reason. Suddenly, both Alec and Simon abandoned their dreams of Pac-man, just wanting to go over and see their partners dance in what they each secretly thought was a pretty sexy way. Also, they kind of wanted to know why Brother Zachariah looked so ill.

"Coming?" Clary asked, and walked away hand in hand with Jace without waiting for a reply.

"Dude, I don't know about you? But I definitely want to go see Isabelle move like that."

"Hey. That's my sister you're talking about." The warning tone was clear in Alec's voice.

Simon snorted. "Hey, you can't tell me you aren't thinking the same thing about Magnus."

"I'm not thinking-" Alec started, but it was clear that he was lying just judging by how red his face, neck, and ears got. "Whatever. Let's just go."

Simon smiled, and the two of them walked very quickly over to the excitement.

::4::4

"Tessa," Jem said somberly, clutching his head in his hands. "This is not music. Where is the violin? The piano?"

"Modern music, Jem," Tessa said, and sighed. Apparently, Jem didn't care about the place downtown where the freaks all come around but rather wanted to hear his favorites like Bach suites and Chopin symphonies. Tessa had to give this response about twenty times now, and frankly she was getting sick of it. The song ended, and she watched as Isabelle and Magnus both wiped beads of sweat off their faces. Magnus threw off his leather overshirt and now was standing there in nothing but a tight black tank and his usual ridiculously tight leather pants, pink tonight.

Alec stared. Likewise, Simon stared as Isabelle threw her hair back into a ponytail and pulled the bottom of her shirt up in a fashion that her stomach was revealed, trying to cool it down, but her chest was covered by her tank. It may have been their imaginations, but they thought Jace was laughing at their faces. Alec looked at the floor. Simon looked at the Donkey Kong machine.

"I kicked your ass." Isabelle smiled at Magnus. "Rematch?"

"I challenge you, Isabelle," Magnus said between breaths, "We are going to go at this until one of us can't go anymore. The one at the end who surrenders-" he emphasized the word with a smack of his hand to the screen of the machine- "loses. And has to buy the other drinks tomorrow. Got it?"

"You're on."

Yeah, it was on.

And all would be watching.

**DUN DUH DUN! WHO SHALL PREVAIL? In any case, this was a really fun chapter to write. Please, please drop me a review with more suggestions. Previous reviewer, your Vegas wedding will be coming soon- hang tight! Peace guys! ~H**


	15. Time to Dance (Fabulously): Part II

_I'm ready with my back to the wind_

_And I will fly higher than I ever have been_

_I'll follow all my dreams_

_My destiny is waiting for me_

_I am on my way, ready for a sun in the sky_

_And all my past worries I will leave them behind_

_Now it is time for the beginning of a brighter day_

_It's a brighter dayyyy_

The old DDR machine played on and on its fifth consecutive song as Magnus and Isabelle wiped beads of sweat from their faces and necks and, bearing the heat and exhaustion of the game, continued to move in time with the fast beat of the newest song that they had chosen. Jace, Clary, Tessa, and Jem watched the screen in awe as PERFECT!'s rained down upon both dancers. Alec and Simon watched something else.

"Dude," Jace said, coming over to Alec. "Isabelle. How does she dance that intensely in _those?" _Alec looked over at Jace blankly. He had been paying little to no attention to his sister. Simon, who apparently overheard Jace, though, was paying her much attention, and he responded, "Jace, she does everything in these heels. Calm down. I'm watching." This caught Alec's attention.

"WHAT exactly are you watching, Simon?"

"Dude, calm down."

"That's my sister!"

"She's my girlfriend!"

"But she's my SISTER!" Simon sighed. Just when he had thought that he and Alec might be becoming closer friends, strengthening that bond of bro-ness, too. Oh well. There would be other opportunities.

"I'm tired," Isabelle said in a loud yet unequivocally proud tone. Magnus beamed, his teeth flashing white in the dim lighting of the arcade. Alec definitely noticed, and he thought, _oh, God, I love when he smiles. _It made him also unconsciously smile. He loved Magnus.

"Is that a surrender?" Magnus's voice was chirpier and more singsongy than Alec had thought he ever heard it, and his eyes lit up like lamps as he shoved Isabelle's shoulder. "Drinks for me and my darling Alexander tomorrow, yes?" Magnus slung an arm around Alec's shoulder.

"I never- said- for- Alec too…"

"Yay!" Magnus cheered. "Hear that, Alec? Drinks for the both of us! Yay!" Isabelle rolled her eyes in a manner of clear judgment, but said nothing. "Well, I'm not too tared. I've done far more dancing than this in one night before. And I suppose I did say that I would take you on in some games. Would you like to try this with me?" Alec shot Magnus a sideways glance. His arm was still slung around him, and in Magnus's state of very little clothing it felt as if he were being sloppily casual for himself. Alec loved it. He was still a very attractive man.

"Mags, you know I wouldn't dance with all these people watching." Magnus pouted.

"Please, please, pleaseeee please please,"

"No." Alec's tone was final. "I'll only dance with you when it's just us, or when the room is so crowded that no one is paying attention. Here, people will see…" Magnus stuck out his lower lip in an even bigger pout than before. Alec wanted nothing more than to kiss him in that moment.

"I have a better idea, Magnus. Let's go over there." He pointed to a very dimly lit, secluded corner of the arcade where there was an alcove and they would be alone. Magnus stopped pouting.

"Why?"

"Just trust me."

And then the men walked away, leaving everyone else to wonder what had just happened ad Isabelle to steady her breathing.

::4::4

"Clary," Jace said. "That reminds me, I wanted to talk to you about something privately, too. Will you take a walk outside with me?"

Clary obliged, leaving Tessa, Jem, Simon, and Isabelle in even greater confusion than before.

::4::4

Alec loved kissing Magnus. It was the greatest feeling in the whole world, he thought, except for loving Magnus, which was an even greater feeling to wonderful for words, and waking up to have Magnus's face be the first thing he saw in the morning, which made his life perfect when he could trace patterns on the face of the handsome sleeping warlock and lace their fingers together like they were the only two people in the world. So this, he decided, was the third best feeling in the world, the taste of his boyfriend in his mouth like sandalwood and cinnamon and such pure _Magnus _that Alec never would be able to let go. Somehow, they were able to pull themselves apart. "Magnus," Alec said. "Magnus."

"Yes, love?"

"We're alone."

"…And?"

"You wanted to dance." Alec took Magnus's hand and threaded his fingers between his. "I'm willing to dance now."

"Much different dancing, don't you think?"

Magnus laughed. It was Alec's favorite music.

They danced and danced. They didn't let go.

::4::4

"Shall we try it?" Tessa asked Jem, gesturing towards the DDR machine. She had not played on one in the past decade, and she really wanted to try it with Jem. He nodded slightly and climbed onto it.

"Alright," he responded. "However, I may not be as… intense… as Magnus or the Lightwood girl." Tessa laughed.

"They _are _intense. In all areas of their lives." Jem laughed. It was a bright laugh, Tessa thought, and a beautiful one. She was so glad that she had married such a wonderful man. _Two_ wonderful men, she mentally corrected herself, and smiled.

"You know that I can be intense, too, yes?" Now it was Tessa's turn to laugh as she remembered a certain night, the night that he had come to her as Jem on the bridge instead of Brother Zachariah, and the events that followed…

"Yes, Jem. Of course you are intense." He smiled back at her and they began to play. Isabelle and Simon watched in amazement. They did not know that anyone could be so terrible at a video game.

"Tessa, Tessa!" Jem cried over the music. "I don't know when to step! Tessa! The box is making strange noises! Help, Tessa-"

"Jem!" Tessa scolded, still moving with the instructions of the machine. "You are going to break it! Just step when the arrow covers the phantom arrow… hmm, closer," Jem got slightly better once he learned that he had to step when the arrows shown above the other ones, not simply when they appeared on the screen. The song ended with Simon and a still-panting Isabelle still staring.

"We can try again," Tessa said. Jem nodded.

"I shall not give up."

"He's relentless," Isabelle muttered under her breath and her panting to Simon, who could only nod. He did not agree more.

::4::4

Outside the arcade was beautiful, the summer air crisp, one of the few quiet spots in the city that was so alive that Clary and Jace felt like they were breathing for the first time since they had gotten there. Jace took Clary's small hand in his. "Clary," he said.

"..Jace" she responded, not quite sure what was going on.

"Remember the time when I gave you my Morgenstern ring?" Clary looked at him blankly.

"Of course I do," she said. "It was one of the most romantic things that you've ever done for me. Why are you bringing this up now, Jace?" Jace blanched, and then he quickly blushed. He reached up with his thumb to scratch his nose, also kind of hoping to hide behind his hand how red he was. Jace knew that he was good with words, so why now, why when he needed them most… would they not come? Clary looked on at him with concern. "Jace, are you okay? You're … quiet. You're never quiet." Jace remained silent. "…Jace?"

"Yeah." He responded quickly. "Yeah I'm okay. I, uh… have another ring for you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Herondale ring, the one that Clary had presented to him at Jocelyn and Luke's wedding. He blushed a deeper red. "Um… Clary…"

Clary's mouth flew open as Jace slid easily onto one knee on the ground and clasped her small hand. "I meant to give a grand speech, but I can't. You put me at a loss for words that I never have experienced before, in the way that only you, Clarissa Fray, can. I need that force, need it forever. I cannot imagine a forever without you, my love, the only one able to put me to silence, by my side. And that's why…" It was now or never, he told himself. "Clarissa Fray, will you marry me?"

She said nothing.

"I… I know we're young. But Shadowhunters marry young, and… and I'm dead sure about this. We can have a long engagement," he offered, not sure of himself. Jace felt, for the first time in his life, as if his pride was stripped away. Clary smiled.

"That was quite a speech for a loss of words," she said, embracing him, kissing him. The word "yes" was barely even off her lips when Jace slid the Herondale ring on her finger.

Just like that, she was his fiancé. He felt like the luckiest man alive.

**Note: The song in the beginning is "A Brighter Day" by NAOKI. Thank you so much for all the support, everyone who reads this! I love you all! There will be one more arcade chapter… :P**


	16. Time to Dance (Fabulously): Part III

Isabelle finally felt well enough to try playing DDR again, and this time she decided that she wanted to play against Tessa in the midst of Magnus's absence with Alec. Jem stepped aside and let her play. Honestly, he was happier to just watch anyway. He was still mesmerized and a little freaked out by all the lights and the sound that was capable from coming from the machine- they blinked and blinked and every time that Jem stepped with any pressure whatsoever on it he felt as if it might break in front of him. He stood off to the side and watched with Simon, who was back to watching Isabelle in the way he previously was. God, Simon thought, was he ever lucky. Both that he had a girlfriend like Isabelle and that Alec was gone and wasn't going to yell at him anymore about looking at her when he _clearly _had been eyeing Magnus in the same way.

Isabelle kept trying to keep up with Tessa, but she was unexpectedly quick and unexpectedly good at what she was doing. They were both getting pertect after perfect, but it was clear that with Isabelle as tired as she was she was losing speed. She regretted not having drawn a stamina rune before she entered the arcade, but hey, how was she going to expect needing a stamina rune to play a bunch of video games?

Anyway, as Isabelle grew more and more worn out as she previously had been, Tessa just continued to gain speed. Isabelle figured that when one had eternal life, as Tessa and Magnus both did, one could easily find the time to get good at something like DDR. Tessa's feet moved quickly and gracefully as Isabelle stumbled. The screen, formerly filled with nothing but PERFECT! On Isabelle's side began to fill with GOOD as well as MISS. Simon watched sadly. Of course he was cheering for his girlfriend. Jem watched with a keen fascination. Simon was not sure if this was because he was learning why Simon and Alec had previously been so interested or if it was just more of the seemingly horrifying 21st century culture shock. Simon wanted Isabelle to win. He knew that she would be angry if she did not beat at least one person at this game tonight, and he knew who would be hearing about it later if she didn't.

He _needed _Isabelle to win.

So, he did what he knew he had to do, He started to hit the corresponding buttons on the screen that he saw flashing as arrows. Isabelle narrowly missed stepping on Simon's foot. "Simon! What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm helping you!"

"Well, stop it! You're messing me up!"

"You would have missed that one if not for me!" Isabelle narrowly missed, this time, tripping over Simon's foot.

"You need to stop before one of us gets hurt!"

"No one is going to get- OW! OW! OW!" Simon cried out as a knife jabbed straight through the skin of his foot. He couldn't help himself. Isabelle hopped off the machine to stand next to her boyfriend.

"What was that, Si?" Simon continued to clutch his foot and scream curse words. "No one is gonna get hurt, you said? You do know my stilettos are knives, right?"

"HOW DO YOU EVEN DANCE IN THOSE?" Isabelle sighed, and suddenly she saw Alec and Magnus rushing from the corner that she presumed that they were making out in, judging from their rumpled hair.

"Who died?" Magnus asked Isabelle, looking vaguely curious. "It sounded like some poor animal was run over by a truck." Alec just tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to Simon in a huddle on the floor. He was clearly trying to not cry, but he wasn't exactly the epitome of toughness and masculinity at this current moment. Magnus looked at Simon with an expression that appeared to be half-pity, half amusement. He looked over at Alec and said in a quiet voice, "should I heal the poor fellow?"

Alec looked as if he were considering.

"YES! HEAL ME, PLEASE! PLEASE! OW!" Simon made a pathetic noise.

Alec scratched his finger to his chin. "Hmmm…"

This went on for a few minutes until Alec finally decided that he was done tormenting Simon. "Yeah," he told his boyfriend. "Probably."

"Alright, rat boy," Magnus said, and got down. Blue sparks shot from his fingertips, and within moments Simon was done wailing. He shot up to the floor and, without even giving Magnus or Alec a second glance, he turned to Isabelle.

"I'm done," he said. "Let's play something else."

Isabelle nodded, and the two walked away. Magnus and Alec went back to their corner shortly after.

::4::4

Jem and Tessa were left alone with the DDR machine. "Wanna try again?" Tessa asked Jem, holding up a handful of tokens. Jem nodded steadfastly at Tessa, and his eyes visibly brightened. He wanted another chance to prove himself- he wanted to show Tessa that he was actually capable of this game, rather than simply failing at it. She smiled and put the tokens into the machine, as Jem watched as the screen blinked.

"You can choose the song," Tessa informed Jem, who was still looking mesmerized, and he turned to focus his attention to the machine.

"I don't know how…"

"Just hit the arrows until you find a song you like." He finally found a song, sung entirely in Japanese except for a few words like "melody" and then the ever-repeating "non specific nonsense ah nonstyle ah non-stop music". He started to get "goods" and "close"s rather than simply the misses and bad's that he had been getting before. Tessa, of course, was graceful as ever. Just as Jem started to get the hang of it, though, the lights flickered on and off the game and the machine seemed to stop working.

"Tessa?" Jem sounded frightened. "Did we break it?"

"Weird, we didn't do anything. Maybe it finally wore out…"

After about two minutes of not working, it finally turned back on again. It worked fairly well after that, but the occasional flicker of the lights continued to plague the machine. As both Tessa and Jem wondered what that was about, the machine entirely stopped working except for the screen, which just began to flash colours. The final colour to flash was a deep reddish-purple. Both lovers were deeply confused.

"Tessa, can we go?"

"Yeah. Let's gather the others."

Everyone retired to the hotel shortly after, Tessa and Jem still wondering what had happened with the DDR machine.

"Probably wore out, old thing."

"Yeah," Tessa responded to Jem, still believing that something was up.

"I love you," Jem said, kissing her.

She supposed that, for the rest of the night, she could forget about the machine.

**Hahaha! No Clace in this chapter, sorry guys, and very little Malec… but next chapter will basically be all Clace, and this fic in general has a lot of Malec, so don't worry **** In any case, what do you think was up with the DDR machine? I promise it wasn't random. See y'all next time! Thanks for all your support.**


	17. Vegas wedding!

The next morning- or, afternoon, rather- when Jem and Tessa awoke, they had nearly forgotten about the incident with the DDR machine. They both had chalked it up to poor mechanics- it was an old thing, after all. It was nothing more than that, an old game system acting up. With Jem holding this belief very strongly, Tessa set aside her feelings of unease and gave herself up completely to Jem, and was now able to all but forget that it had ever happened. They hadn't told anyone else about it, so it wasn't like anyone was about to remind them either.

They dragged themselves down to the breakfast bar and groggily sat down. Everyone else was already there- Magnus and Alec, who he was having button his stylish cufflinks in preparation for their night out; Simon trying to get Isabelle to eat biscuits and gravy while she turned away from him in disgust; and Clary and Jace, who looked super uncomfortable. Tessa noted that Jace was fidgeting with his napkin and casting his eyes down, seemingly unwilling to make eye contact with anyone at the table. Clary seemed to be twirling a ring around her finger, only looking up every once in a while to try to make eye contact with an unwilling Jace. Eventually, though, he did look at her, and they exchanged a knowing look. Tessa continued to watch, wondering, as Jace nodded and the two of them stood up. Tessa continued to watch in awe as Jace opened his mouth and began to spoke. "We have an announcement," he said, and at once the whole group was listening intently. He looked once more at Clary for reassurance, but before she could give it to him, Isabelle grabbed her hand.

"By the Angel!" she exclaimed loudly. "Is this what I think it is?" She didn't even pause before blurting out, "you guys are getting married. MARRIED!" Jace looked exasperated and Clary pulled her hand away from Isabelle.

"Yes, Isabelle, if you'd let us talk we would have gotten there eventually," she said in an unpleasant tone. Clearly, she was not happy that her friend had broken the news to everyone before she had a chance to do so. However, everyone was too focused on being excited to hear what she had said, Isabelle included. She clapped her hands together in front of her ruby necklace and whooped loudly.

"Married?" Alec said, looking shocked. The surprise wore off his face momentarily, and he smiled widely. "Congratulations! That's…" he appeared to be searching for a word. "That's… awesome." Jace smiled back at Alec.

"Thanks!" The blonde said, and the two brothers exchanged a fist bump. Clary grinned as she watched them, her anger at Isabelle forgotton. She was so glad that everyone was happy for her, she thought, as Simon clapped her on the back and whispered his congratulations.

"You're so young, though," Isabelle said. "You're gonna have a long engagement?"

"Yeah," Clary said, "maybe. I mean-" she began to say something, but was cut off by Magnus.

"Long engagement? Darling," Magnus flashed her a glittery wink, "no way. No way. We're in Vegas. You're going to have a traditional Vegas wedding." Clary exchanged an unsure look with her fiancé.

"Magnus, I don't think-"

"You don't think nothing, biscuit. I demand to give you a perfect wedding. I am an exceptional planner. You can have another ceremony at home, of course, with your families-"

"We are not getting married today."

"Tomorrow?"

"Magnus…" Jace let out an exasperated sigh. "We just got engaged."

"And that's the beauty of it, Goldilocks. Vegas weddings are sudden. Vegas weddings are wild."

Alec leaned into Jace and whispered into his ear. "You know, bro, it's probably best if you do it. You probably don't want him to get mad. Besides, you'll be getting married eventually anyway…"

"Alec." Jace was firm. "I really don't think this is-"

"So it's settled, then," Magnus clamped each of his hands on Clary and Jace's shoulder. "Tomorro, we're having a Vegas wedding."

Jace and Clary looked uncomfortable. "So it's settled, then, I guess," Clary said, the first to crack. "I guess… tomorrow."

Jace fidgeted. "Yeah."

Magnus beamed.


	18. Drilled and Nailed

That night was an array of chaos and hurry. Well, for everyone besides Clary and Jace. When they retired to bed- or at least to their hotel room- Magnus magicked six cups of coffee as he and Isabelle assembled their boyfriends along with Jem and Tessa to plan what would happen the next night for the big wedding. "I don't see why I have to do this," Alec grumbled, clearly upset to be sucked into the planning of such a large party. "It isn't like I'm any good at planning these sorts of things, anyway." Isabelle shot him a death glare while Simon, Jem, and Tessa just looked uncomfortable. Alec looked up from playing with the fringe on his sweater, which was apparently all too interesting, and then made an alarmed face. He turned to Magnus.

"Did I say that out loud?" Magnus nodded, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Yes, darling, you did. And to answer your question, it's because you're the best man, of course." To this, Alec made a noise that sounded a bit like a grunt, but then simply went back to playing with his too-long sleeves.

"Speaking of which," Isabelle said, smacking Magnus lightly and playfully smacked Magnus on the shoulder, "shouldn't we be planning stag and hen nights? I can totally plan a bachelorette party for Clary, as her maid of honor, of course, while Alec, as the best man, gets to plan a bachelor party for Jace." Alec let out a loud, surly groan and smacked his head against the table before loudly shouting an expletive and burying the painful part of his head in his hands. Magnus gave him a look of disapproval, but reached out to rub comforting circles on his back anyway.

"Isabelle," Magnus said seriously, "where's the fun in that? I mean, this is a Vegas wedding. It's supposed to be spontaneous. The ceremony itself basically IS a bachelor party."

Jem spoke up for the first time, his hand still resting lightly in Tessa's. "Do you really think that's what Clary and Jace want?"

"Of course!" Magnus waved his arm- the one that wasn't on Alec's back- around in a ridiculously extravagant way. "Everyone, listen up. This is a Vegas wedding. It isn't something that can be taken lightly! Maybe none of you have ever been to a Vegas wedding, but I have, all right? And I know how this is supposed to go! And Isabelle is helping me!"

Collective groan from the group. They all knew Magnus had his heart set on this, so he was going to get it.

"Clary?" Jace asked his girlfriend, who was staring out their window of their hotel room, thinking. She wondered if her wedding was going to be all that she had hoped it would be. Having been banished from the kitchen while Magnus and Izzy explained how the next night was going to go for Clary and Jace, she now feared that he may be planning something outrageous and ridiculous that she never would have wanted for herself. "Clary?" Jace said again, more loudly, and this time Clary was brought back to reality.

"What?" She turned to Jace with a more concerned and yet annoyed expression than she had planned to. Jace, noting her aggression, took an involuntary step back. He knew how Clary was when she was upset.

"I'm a little worried about our wedding." His face showed a clear vulnerability that usually was confined to his eyes. Worried, Clary looked into them. She loved their gold.

"Why?"

"Because… well…" he gestured in the general direction of the kitchen. "It's… Magnus."

"I'm sure Alec won't let him do anything stupid." Clary lightened visibly, this realization dawning on her for the first time. Alec was nowhere near as crazy about celebreations than Magnus, and he would take care of it. Also… another realization dawned on her. "Also, Simon is my best friend. He knows what I'd like and what I'd hate."

Jace still looked concerned. "And what," he asked, do you think that Simon and Alec are going to do about it?"

Clary shrugged. "I'm pretty sure they'd speak up if Magnus or Iz says something ridiculous."

"I'm… not sure their relationships work like that." Clary was spared having to reply to this by a loud sound.

"WHAT IS THAT?" She screamed, covering her ears. Jace, eyes wide, took her hand.

"The fire alarm. Let's go." Clary looked concerned. "It probably is just a drill."

The couple, hand in hand, ran down the stairs and out of the hotel. Nothing was visibly burning.

"See?" Jace wraped his arms around Clary. "I told you- just a drill."

But Clary couldn't get the uneasy feeling out of her stomach and couldn't get the notion out of her head that it was so much more than a drill.

::P::

Hearing the fire alarm, everyone at the table froze. "Well," Magnus finally spoke up. "That is certainly rather obnoxious. Let's go." Simon and Isabelle were out the door faster than Magnus was done speaking, but Alec remained frozen in place with an expression of shock in his eyes. Magnus, sensing that he was stunned by how loud the alarm was- and, indeed, it was one of the loudest that Magnus had ever heard- walked over to his boyfriend and scooped him up, bridal- style, and carried him out of the hotel.

Which left Jem and Tessa.

Jem looked terrified. Having never heard such a loud noise before in his life, he clung to Tessa's arm as if there were no tomorrow. "James," she said sternly, but then realized that he was actually terrified and softened her voice. "Jem, it's only a fire alarm. It's alright."

"TESSA!" Jem clung on for dear life. Tessa felt as if he may rip her arm right off.

"Jem, it's okay. It probably is just a drill. Let's get out." Jem looked alarmed.

"A DRILL? Tessa, if that sound is a drill, IT IS ONE MASSIVE DRILL. Are we going to be hit with a big screw? Are we going to die?"

"By the Angel, Jem, not that kind of-" Tessa put her hand on the lock and turned the knob, but it appeared to her as if they were locked inside the room. "Okay," she said calmly. "Don't panic, Jem, but we're locked in. Probably an automatic thing with the door-" Suddenly, out of nowhere, the lights in the room began to flash, on, off, on, off, on, just as the DDR machine had done the night before. Jem, while retired, was still a trained Shadowhunter, and in the fashion of a trained Shadowhunter pulled a dagger out of his shoe.

"Something's up," he informed Tessa loudly, so she would hear him over the noise.

Tessa made a sound. "No shit," she said. Jem was taken aback. Tessa almost never swore.

Suddenly, the alarm and the blinking stopped at the same time. "Tessa?" Jem whispered nervously.

"I'm right here." Her voice was reassuring as she wove her fingers between his.

Soon, everyone else was back at the table and the incident was mostly forgotten. Isabelle and Magnus went back to bossing around everyone else at the table because they were "King and Queen of party planning." Clary and Jace were back in their room, claiming that they did not want to be disturbed. After a few crude remarks from a certain glittery warlock, they were left undisturbed.

After everything, Tessa finally decided to ask the desk about the incident so that she could tell Jem what had happened. Jem had been very frightened, she thought, fondly. It was adorable. She loved him so much.

When she asked the man at the desk though, he simply shot her and Jem- who was holding her hand- a strange look.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Miss," he said dazedly. He had an English accent that Tessa found strangely familiar, but couldn't place. She chalked it up to having lived in London for so many years. "Nothing of that nature happened here today."

**I AM SO SORRY FOR THE RIDICULOUSLY SLOW UPDATES. MY FINALS FOR COLLEGE ARE COMING UP, AND I HAVE BEEN FINDING VERY LITTLE TIME TO WRITE. I WROTE THIS LITERALLY IN STOLEN MOMENTS, A PARAGRAPH AT A TIME. MY LAST FINAL IS TUESDAY, SO AFTER THAT I SHOULD BEGIN FAIRLY REGULAR UPDATES AGAIN. I GREATLY, GREATLY APOLOGIZE AND HOPE THAT YOU HAVE NOT GIVEN UP ON MY STORY. AS ALWAYS, THATKS FOR THE SUPPORT. ALSO, YOU CAN ALL FOLLOW ME AT .com AND SEND ME PROMPTS FOR ONESHOT FANFICTION AS WELL TO MAKE THE SPEED OF THIS UPDATE UP TO YOU. PEACE OUT.**


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